[^iunkmv^  of  i^t  C^avitt 
of  t^  (]5teformet>  ^vokBtani 
^uk^  CJurc?  of  i^t  Cii^  of 
(ltet(?  ^ovL  n  (hl^cccrct>i )» 


BX95I7 
.N5N52 


10.  SI3.36 


'^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^^ 


'4r. 


\ 


V 

\ 


GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE    PROVINCE    OF   NEW  YORK 
1 69 1   TO   1705 


BICENTENARY 

OF 

THE  CHARTER 

OF  THE 

Beformeti 
Protestant  Butcf)  C|)urcl) 

OF  THE 

/ 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 
MAY  ELEVENTH,   1896 


% 


NEW  YORK 

PRINTED   BY  THE   CONSISTORY 

MDCCCXCVI 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introductory  Note 7 

The  Service 11 

Historical  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe   ...  17 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird 41 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder     ...  50 

Letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dix 58 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 60 

Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrell 71 

The  Charter 7^ 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE 

THE  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  now  commonly  known  as 
the  Collegiate  Church,  was  organized  by  the  Rev. 
Jonas  Michaelius,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  New 
Netherland  on  the  seventh  of  April,  1628.  It  was 
incorporated  by  a  royal  charter  which  was  granted 
by  William  III,  and  was  signed  by  Governor  Ben- 
jamin Fletcher  on  the  eleventh  of  May,  1696.  As 
this  was  the  first  charter  bestowed  on  any  church 
in  this  country,  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of 
its  issue  seemed  to  the  Consistory  deserving  of 
suitable  commemoration.  A  committee  was  ac- 
cordingly appointed  in  February  last,  consisting 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe,  Hon.  Henry  W.  Bookstaver, 
and  Professor  Frederic  R.  Hutton,  to  consider  an 
appropriate  mode  of  celebration  and  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  the  same.     At  a  subsequent  meet- 


8  Introdttctory  Note 

ing  of  the  Consistory  a  report  of  this  committee 
was  received  and  approved,  recommending  that  a 
public  service  should  be  held  in  the  church  at  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Forty-eighth  Street,  on  the  eleventh 
of  May ;  that  an  historical  statement  in  reference 
to  the  charter  should  be  made  by  one  of  the  Min- 
isters of  the  Church;  and  that  a  representative  of 
each  of  those  Churches  which  were  established 
here  when  the  charter  was  granted  should  be  in- 
vited to  make  an  address. 

This  order  was  duly  carried  out.  Numerous  in- 
vitations were  sent  to  the  officers  of  public  institu- 
tions, of  historical  and  other  societies,  and  of  the 
Government  of  the  City,  as  well  as  to  the  clergy  of 
all  denominations,  and  to  such  other  persons  as  the 
committee  judged  likely  to  be  interested  in  the 
exercises.  In  spite  of  the  unusual  heat  of  the  day, 
a  very  large  audience  was  assembled.  The  church 
was  elaborately  decorated  with  banners  represent- 
ing the  coats-of-arms  of  the  several  provinces  of 
the  Netherlands,  and  with  the  flags  of  the  United 
States,  Great  Britain,  and  Holland,  and  the  pulpit 
was  adorned  with  plants  and  flowers.  A  large 
photograph  representing  the  first  and  last  lines  of 
the  charter,  with  the  signature  of  the  Governor 
and  the  seal  of  the  province,  was  placed  in  the  view 


Introductory  Note  9 

of  the  audience,  and  the  great  seal  was  also  repro- 
duced upon  the  programme.  The  music  was  finely 
rendered  by  the  choir  of  the  church,  augmented 
by  additional  voices.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Coe,  as  the 
Senior  Minister  of  the  Collegiate  Church,  presided, 
delivered  the  Historical  Address,  and  introduced 
the  speakers.  These  were  the  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Baird,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  in  the  New  York 
University  ;  the  Rev.  Junius  B.  Remensnyder, 
D.D.,  Pastor  of  St.  James'  Lutheran  Church  of 
this  city;  and  the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Tiffany,  D.D., 
Archdeacon  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York.  To 
their  words  of  greeting,  congratulation,  and  his- 
torical reminiscence,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrell  made  in 
the  name  of  the  Collegiate  Church  a  hearty  and 
felicitous  response.  The  exercises  held  to  the  close 
the  interested  attention  of  all  who  were  present, 
and  a  large  number  of  congratulatory  letters  were 
received  by  the  committee  from  prominent  persons 
who  were  unable  to  attend  the  service. 

As  a  permanent  memorial  of  the  occasion,  the 
Addresses  are  now  printed  by  the  Consistory,  to- 
gether with  the  Order  of  Service  and  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  Morgan  Dix,  S.T.D.,  D.C.L.,  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church.  These  are  followed  by  the  char- 
ter.     In  publishing  this  record  of  the  service,  the 


lo  Introductory  Note 

Consistory  desire  to  express  their  thanks  to  all 
those  who  united  with  them  in  doing  honor  to  this 
ancient  Church  —  the  oldest  in  the  city,  and  the 
oldest  now  in  existence  in  the  United  States. 


31lnt][)Cm,  Benedic  anima  mea    .     .     .    Ca^d  Walter 
^^rapcr  by  the  Rev.  John  Gerardus  Fagg 

^lefato — Psalm  cxlv. 

Ktafl  b?  ti^e  Keb.  titxva  (!0t)crt5on  Cobb  anu 

1  T  WILL  extol  thee,  my  God,  O  King; 

X  And  I  will  bless  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

2  Every  day  will  I  bless  thee; 

A7id  I  will  praise  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

3  Great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised; 
And  his  greatness  is  unsearchable. 

4  One  generation  shall  praise  thy  works  to  another, 
And  shall  declare  thy  mighty  acts. 

5  I  will  speak  of  the  glorious  honor  of  thy  majesty. 
And  of  thy  wondrous  works. 

6  And  men  shall  speak  of  the  might  of  thy  terrible  acts : 
Atid  I  will  declare  thy  greatness. 


^2  The  Service 

7  They  shall  abundantly  utter  the  memory  of  thy  great 

goodness, 
And  shall  sitig  of  thy  righteousness. 

8  The  Lord  is  gracious,  and  full  of  compassion ; 
Slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  fnercy. 

9  The  Lord  is  good  to  all : 

And  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  zvorks. 

10  All  thy  works  shall  praise  thee,  O  Lord; 
And  thy  saints  shall  bless  thee. 

1 1  They  shall  speak  of  the  glory  of  thy  kingdom, 
And  talk  of  thy  power; 

12  To  make  known  to  the  sons  of  men  his  mighty  acts, 
And  the  glorious  majesty  of  his  kingdom. 

13  Thy  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom. 

And  thy  dominion  en  dure  th  throughout  all  generations. 

14  The  Lord  upholdeth  all  that  fall, 

And  raise  th  up  all  those  that  be  boived  down. 

15  The  eyes  of  all  wait  upon  thee; 

And  thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due  season. 

16  Thou  openest  thine  hand. 

And  satisfest  the  desire  of  every  living  thing. 

17  The  Lord  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways, 
And  holy  in  all  his  works. 

18  The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  all  them  that  call  upon  him, 
To  all  that  call  upon.  hi?n  in  truth. 

19  He  will  fulfil  the  desire  of  them  that  fear  him  : 
He  also  will  hear  their  cry,  and  will  save  them. 

20  The  Lord  preserveth  all  them  that  love  him : 
But  all  the  wicked  will  he  destroy. 

21  My  mouth  shall  speak  the  praise  of  the  Lord  : 
And  let  all  flesh  bless  his  holy  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

(^Joria  ©atrt 

By  the  Rev.  Edward  Benton  Coe,  U.D,,  LL.D. 


The  Service  13 

I^pmn  692  Dzttck  Air  of  the  i6th  Century 

GLORIOUS  things  of  thee  are  spoken, 
Zion,  city  of  our  God; 
He,  whose  word  cannot  be  broken, 
Formed  thee  for  His  own  abode  : 
On  the  Rock  of  Ages  founded, 

What  can  shake  thy  sure  repose  ? 
With  salvation's  walls  surrounded, 
Thou  niay'st  smile  at  all  thy  foes. 

See,  the  streams  of  living  waters, 

Springing  from  eternal  love, 
Well  supply  thy  sons  and  daughters, 

And  all  fear  of  want  remove  : 
Who  can  faint  while  such  a  river 

Ever  flows  their  thirst  to  assuage  ? 
Grace,  which,  like  the  Lord,  the  Giver, 

Never  fails  from  age  to  age. 

Round  each  habitation  hovering 

See  the  cloud  and  fire  appear, 
For  a  glory  and  a  covering. 

Showing  that  the  Lord  is  near : 
Thus  deriving  from  their  banner 

Light  by  night,  and  shade  by  day, 
Safe  they  feed  upon  the  manna 

Which  He  gives  them  when  they  pray. 

^CtJtire^^  by  the  Rev.  Henry  M.  Baird,  D.D., 

Of  the  New  York  University 

^ttsto^^  by  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D., 

Of  the  Lutheran  Church 


1 4  The  Service 

J^pmn  ^^Z Em  Feste  Burg 

A  MIGHTY  fortress  is  our  God, 
A  bulwark  never  failing; 
Our  helper,  He,  amid  the  flood 
Of  mortal  ills  prevaiHng; 
For  still  our  ancient  foe 
Doth  seek  to  work  us  woe ; 
His  craft  and  power  are  great, 
And  armed  with  cruel  hate  : 
On  earth  is  not  his  equal. 

Did  we  in  our  own  strength  confide, 

Our  striving  would  be  losing  — 
Were  not  the  right  man  on  our  side. 
The  man  of  God's  own  choosing : 
Dost  ask  who  that  may  be  ? 
Christ  Jesus,  it  is  He ! 
Lord  Sabaoth,  His  name ; 
From  age  to  age  the  same; 
And  He  must  win  the  battle. 

And  though  this  world  with  devils  filled 

Should  threaten  to  undo  us, 
We  will  not  fear,  for  God  hath  willed 
His  truth  to  triumph  through  us : 
The  prince  of  darkness  grim  — 
We  tremble  not  for  him ; 
His  rage  we  can  endure ; 
For  lo,  his  doom  is  sure ; 
One  little  word  shall  fell  him. 

That  word  above  all  earthly  powers  — 

No  thanks  to  them  —  abideth  ; 
The  Spirit  and  the  gifts  are  ours, 

Through  Him  who  with  us  sideth : 


The  Service  15 

Let  goods  and  kindred  go, 
This  mortal  life  also  ; 
The  body  they  may  kill, 
God's  truth  abideth  still; 
His  kingdom  is  forever. 

^tltltCjS^i^  by  the  Rev.  Charl.es  C.  Tiffany,  D.D., 
Archdeacon  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York 

lUej^jpon^e  by  the  Rev.  David  J  as.  Burrell,  D.D. 

I^pmn  J26 National  Air  of  Holland 

OGOD,  our  help  in  ages  past, 
Our  hope  for  years  to  come, 
Our  shelter  from  the  stormy  blast, 
And  our  eternal  home ; 

Before  the  hills  in  order  stood, 

Or  earth  received  her  frame. 
From  everlasting  Thou  art  God, 

To  endless  years  the  same. 

Time,  like  an  ever-rolling  stream, 

Bears  all  its  sons  away  ; 
They  fly  forgotten,  as  a  dream 

Dies  at  the  opening  day. 

O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 

Our  hope  for  years  to  come, 
Be  Thou  our  guard  while  troubles  last. 

And  our  eternal  home. 

2DOjiroiO0p»  Praise  God,  from  ivhom  all  blessings  flow 


1 6  The  Service 

^benediction 

ilCtC^^iona!)    The  Marvelous   Work  .    .    .    Haydn 
^O^tiU00)  Saci^ed  march  in  F Gounod 


■Efjt  xmx%\t  tDa;s  rcnucwn  b?  a  Double  £luartrtti^,  Cijorus,  anD 
31n^trumtnt;E(,  unDetr  tijc  Direction  of  Carl  ItDaltec* 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS* 


BY 


THE  REV.  EDWARD  B.  COE,  D.D.,   LL.D. 


IGHTEEN  years  ago,  on  the  21st 
of  November,  1878,  the  Collegiate 
Church  celebrated  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  organ- 
ization. "We  have  just  established 
the  form  of  a  church,"  wrote  Rev. 
Jonas  Michaelius,  on  the  i  ith  of  August,  1628,  from 
the  island  of  Manhatas,  in  New  Netherland,  to  a 
friend  in  Holland.  Two  elders  had  been  chosen, 
of  whom  one  was  the  "  Honorable  Director"  him- 
self; "full  fifty  communicants,  Walloons  and 
Dutch,"  had  been  received  into  membership,  some 
on  confession  of  their  faith,  and  others  on  certificates 
from  churches  at  home;  and  "the  holy  sacrament 
of  the  Lord"  had  been  duly  administered.     This 

*  Portions  of  this  Address  were  omitted  in  the  delivery. 


1 8  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

was  two  years  after  the  beginning  of  civil  govern- 
ment on  this  island,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company.  Through  the  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  years  which  have  since 
elapsed,  the  life  of  this  Church  has  been  uninter- 
rupted. 

We  are  met  this  evening  to  celebrate  a  more  re- 
cent event  in  its  history  —  the  signing  of  its  charter, 
sixty-eight  years  later,  by  the  English  governor, 
Benjamin  Fletcher.  The  significance  of  this  event 
does  not  lie  simply  in  the  fact  that  a  corporation 
was  then  constituted  which  is  still  in  existence. 
The  granting  of  the  charter  of  the  Reformed  Pro- 
testant Dutch  Church  in  the  City  of  New  York  was 
a  triumph  of  religious  liberty.  It  set  an  effective 
barrier  in  the  way  of  the  establishment  here  of 
the  ecclesiastical  system  which  prevailed  in  Great 
Britain.  It  settled  the  principle  that  there  was  to 
be  no  union  of  church  and  state  in  this  colony,  but 
that  all  Protestant  bodies  were  here  to  have  equal 
rights.  It  is  therefore  worthy  of  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice,  and  is  of  interest  not  only  to  those  who 
cherish  a  personal  or  hereditary  regard  for  the 
Dutch  Church,  but  to  all  to  whom  the  cause  of  re- 
ligious freedom  is  dear.  Your  presence  here  this 
evening  indicates  your  recognition  of  this  its 
broader  significance. 

I  am  first  to  tell  as  simply  and  clearly  as  possible 
the  story  of  the  way  in  which  the  charter  was  ob- 
tained, and  briefly  to  indicate  its  historic  impor- 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  19 

tance.  It  did  not  merely  secure  to  the  Church  the 
right  to  receive  and  hold  property :  other  and 
more  serious  questions  were  involved  in  it. 

The  Dutch  who  settled  New  Amsterdam  were 
not  fugitives  from  religious  oppression,  nor  were 
they  religious  enthusiasts.  They  were  for  the 
most  part  honest  and  God-fearing  men  who  es- 
tablished themselves  here  for  purposes  of  trade. 
They  had  at  first  no  intention  of  erecting  in  the 
wilderness  a  permanent  state.  They  brought  with 
them,  of  course,  the  church  of  their  fathers,  and 
they  meant  that  this  should  be  the  church  of  the 
colony.  This  island  was  the  private  property  of 
the  West  India  Company,  which  purchased  it  from 
the  Indians  for  the  sum  of  twenty-four  dollars. 
The  government  of  the  colony  was  therefore  vested 
in  the  Company,  whose  regulations  covered  the 
subject  of  religion  as  well  as  other  matters  of  gen- 
eral concern.  In  an  ordinance  adopted  by  the 
Directors  and  approved  by  the  States  General  in 
1640  it  was  provided  that  "no  other  religion  shall 
be  publicly  admitted  in  New  Netherland  except  the 
Reformed,  as  it  is  at  present  preached  and  prac- 
tised by  public  authority  in  the  United  Netherlands; 
and  for  this  purpose  the  Company  shall  provide 
and  maintain  good  and  suitable  preachers,  school- 
masters, and  comforters  of  the  sick."  Calls  upon 
ministers  were  not  valid  without  its  approval,  and 
their  salaries  were  paid  by  it,  in  part  if  not  wholly, 
down  to  the  English  conquest  in   1664.      At  the 


20  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

same  time  liberty  of  religious  opinion  and  worship, 
for  which  the  Dutch  Republic  had  waged  such  a 
long  and  magnificent  conflict,  was  not  here  denied 
to  representatives  of  other  churches,  and  the  few 
Lutherans,  Independents,  Presbyterians,  and  Jews 
who  had  come  hither  worshiped,  for  the  most  part, 
unhindered,  in  private  houses.  As  their  numbers 
increased,  there  was,  indeed,  for  a  few  years,  from 
1656  to  1663,  a  deplorable  manifestation  of  religious 
intolerance  toward  them,  both  on  the  part  of  the 
Dutch  ministers  and  of  that  honest  but  arbitrary 
and  violent  elder,  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  last  Di- 
rector under  the  Dutch  regime.  He  and  his 
council  passed  an  ordinance  forbidding  all  unau- 
thorized conventicles  and  the  preaching  of  un- 
authorized persons ;  and  this  law  was  enforced  with 
fines  and  imprisonments,  first  against  the  Lutherans, 
and  afterward  on  Long  Island  against  the  Quakers. 
But  the  vigorous  protests  which  it  aroused  brought 
upon  Stuyvesant  the  rebuke  of  the  Company.  The 
true  Dutch  spirit  appears  in  their  words:  "The  con- 
sciences of  men  ought  to  remain  free  and  un- 
shackled. Let  every  one  remain  free,  so  long  as 
he  is  modest,  moderate,  his  political  conduct  irre- 
proachable, and  so  long  as  he  does  not  offend 
others  or  oppose  the  government.  This  maxim  of 
moderation,"  they  add,  "has  always  been  the  guide 
of  our  magistrates  in  this  city  [the  city  of  Amster- 
dam, in  Holland],  and  the  consequence  has  been 
that  people  have  flocked  from  every  land  to  this 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  21 

asylum.  Tread  thus  in  their  steps,  and  we  doubt 
not  you  will  be  blessed."  This  noble  utterance 
terminated  the  brief  spasm  of  persecution  in  New 
Netherland. 

The  Dutch  Church  was,  however,  the  only 
church  organized  here  for  many  years.  It  first  met 
for  worship  in  a  room  prepared  for  the  purpose 
over  a  horse-mill  which  was  built  and  owned  by 
one  of  the  colonists.  In  1633  the  West  India 
Company  erected  on  their  own  land  the  first  church 
building,  a  plain  wooden  structure  which  looked 
like  a  barn,  and  which  stood  in  what  is  now  Broad 
Street,  near  Pearl  Street.  Nine  years  later,  in 
1642,  a  large  stone  church  was  built  in  the  fort  or 
stockade,  toward  the  cost  of  which  the  Company 
contributed  a  thousand  guilders.  The  balance  of 
fifteen  hundred  guilders  was  contributed  by  the 
people,  who  consequently  had  an  interest  in  the 
property  after  the  Company's  connection  with  it 
had  been  terminated  by  the  English  conquest. 
There  was,  however,  no  need  of  a  charter  or  act 
of  incorporation  so  long  as  the  Dutch  rule  con- 
tinued. Neither  the  civil  nor  the  ecclesiastical 
rights  of  the  church  were  questioned. 

All  legal  relations  were  changed,  however,  when 
New  Amsterdam  became  New  York.  No  revolu- 
tion of  equal  importance  has  perhaps  ever  been  so 
quietly  made.  It  is  evident  that  the  Dutch  set- 
tlers, who  formed  the  great  majority  of  the  popula- 
tion, welcomed  the  change  from  the  authority  of 


2  2  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

the  Dutch  West  India  Company  to  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish crown.  They  plainly  expected  thus  to  obtain 
greater  commercial  advantages,  while  their  civil 
and  religious  liberties  seemed  to  be  amply  secured. 
Stuyvesant  was,  indeed,  determined  to  hold  the 
place  at  any  cost  against  the  English  fleet.  But 
the  ministers  and  leading  citizens,  perceiving  that 
resistance  would  be  futile  and  would  result  simply 
in  the  wanton  destruction  of  property  and  life,  com- 
pelled him  to  yield.  Thus  the  surrender  of  the 
most  important  post  in  the  new  world  was  made 
without  the  firing  of  a  gun  or  the  striking  of  a 
blow.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  terms  of  sur- 
render granted  by  the  conquerors  were  in  the  high- 
est degree  magnanimous.  The  Dutch  were  to 
continue  as  free  denizens  of  the  colony,  were  to  re- 
tain their  private  property  and  dispose  of  it  at  their 
pleasure,  and  were  to  observe  without  interference 
their  former  customs  as  to  inheritance  and  religion. 
A  special  article  provides  that  "the  Dutch  here 
shall  enjoy  the  liberty  of  their' consciences  in  divine 
worship  and  in  church  discipline."  They  would 
not  indeed  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  until  assured 
in  writing  that  these  articles  of  surrender  were  not 
in  the  least  broken  or  intended  to  be  broken  by  any 
words  or  expressions  in  the  oath.  For  a  time  even 
the  Dutch  civil  officials  remained  in  power,  and 
they  were  directed  to  make  provision  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  ministers.  It  was  further  stipulated  in 
these  articles  that  "  all  public  buildings  should  re- 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  23 

main  in  their  former  use."  This  gave  to  the  Dutch 
exclusive  right  to  the  church  in  the  fort,  though  the 
latter  was  now  held  by  British  troops.  By  the 
courtesy  of  the  Dutch  ministers  and  congregation, 
the  English  chaplain  was,  however,  allowed  to  offi- 
ciate in  this  edifice.  Thus  it  was  that  English 
services  were  begun  in  New  York,  and  thus  they 
continued  to  be  held  for  twenty-nine  years. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  inevitable  that  an  at- 
tempt should  be  made,  sooner  or  later,  to  introduce 
and  establish,  in  what  had  now  come  to  be  an  Eng- 
lish colony,  the  Church  of  England.  And  this 
was  the  aim  of  the  successive  English  governors 
from  the  outset.  It  was  the  purport  of  their  offi- 
cial, especially  of  their  secret,  instructions.  This 
could  not  have  been  otherwise,  though  the  number 
of  English  Episcopalians  in  the  colony  was  but  an 
inconsiderable  fraction  of  the  whole  population. 
But  against  this  policy  the  adherents  of  the  Dutch 
Church  set  themselves  in  determined  and  uninter- 
mitted  opposition.  For  a  long  time  no  definite 
steps  toward  its  enforcement  were  taken,  but  en- 
tire religious  toleration  was  granted.  It  was  ne- 
cessary at  first  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the 
people,  and  to  comply  with  the  liberal  terms  of  the 
articles  of  surrender.  Not  only  were  the  city  au- 
thorities directed  to  lay  a  tax  upon  the  inhabitants 
in  order  to  pay  the  Dutch  ministers,  but  Governor 
Lovelace  in  1670  offered  a  salary  to  any  Dutch 
minister  who   would  come  over  to   help  Domine 


24  Address  by  the  Rev,  Dr.  Coe 

Drisius.  It  was  on  the  strength  of  this  assurance 
that  Van  Nieuwenhuysen  came  from  Holland ; 
though  it  does  not  appear  that  the  governor's 
promise  was  kept.  In  addition  to  this  there  was  a 
further  reason  why  both  Charles  II  and  James  II 
should  concede  in  matters  of  religion  a  large  toler- 
ation. Both  were  Catholics,  and  desired  to  leave 
here  a  door  open  for  the  entrance  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  For  twenty-one  years  after  the 
surrender  the  province  of  New  York  was  not  a 
chartered  but  a  proprietary  government,  held  by 
James,  Duke  of  York,  as  a  fief  of  the  crown,  and 
laws  were  promulgated,  courts  established,  and 
justice  administered  in  his  name.  The  "  Duke's 
Laws "  provided  that  a  church  should  be  built  in 
every  parish ;  that  the  means  for  building  and  for 
the  support  of  the  minister  should  be  raised  by 
churchwardens  ;  and  that  ministers  must  have  been 
ordained  by  some  Protestant  bishop  or  minister. 
No  congregation  was  to  be  disturbed  in  its  meet- 
ings, nor  any  person  professing  Christianity  to  be 
molested,  fined,  or  imprisoned  for  his  religious 
opinions,  and  every  inhabitant  must  contribute  to 
all  charges  both  in  church  and  state.  To  these 
laws  were  added,  however,  secret  instructions  re- 
quiring Colonel  Nicholls  and  subsequent  governors 
to  establish  episcopacy  so  far  as  they  found  this  to 
be  possible. 

The  reconquest  of  New  York  by  the  Dutch  fleet 
in  1673,  and  its  resurrender  by  the  States  General 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  25 

in  the  following  year,  complicated  somewhat  the 
question  of  the  legal  status  of  the  Dutch  Church, 
but  made  no  essential  difference  in  its  relation  to 
the  English  authorities.  The  people  appear,  how- 
ever, to  have  become  somewhat  anxious  about  their 
rights  in  the  building  in  which  they  had  so  long 
worshiped,  and  a  special  deed  of  it  was  obtained 
from  Governor  Colve  before  the  surrender.  Now, 
however,  the  English  governors  received  enlarged 
authority,  and  their  efforts  to  establish  the  English 
Church  were  more  vigorously  pressed.  Governor 
Andros  came  more  than  once  in  collision  with  the 
Dutch  churches  in  the  matter  of  the  calling  and 
ordaining  of  ministers.  But  in  1681  an  act  of  his 
council  allowed  this  Church  to  issue  a  call  to  the 
Rev.  Henricus  Selyns,  a  man  to  whose  shrewdness, 
prudence,  and  energy  it  is  under  deep  obligation  ; 
and  another  act  passed  in  the  following  year  gave 
him  permission  to  erect  a  parsonage. 

A  far  more  important  event  in  the  history  of  the 
colony,  and  one  which  is  closely  related  to  the 
matter  now  before  us,  was  the  authority  given  to 
Governor  Dongan,  in  1683,  to  convene  a  General 
Assembly  by  the  votes  of  the  people.  The  object 
of  this  was  to  facilitate  the  collection  of  taxes,  but 
it  was  the  real  beginning  of  popular  government 
under  the  English  rule.  The  Assembly  met  in 
October,  1683,  a  large  majority  of  them  being 
Dutch.  They  immediately  passed  a  Charter  of 
Liberties,  which  was  approved  by   the    governor. 


26  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

and  signed  a  year  later  by  the  Duke  of  York.  In 
this  the  people,  met  in  a  General  Assembly,  were 
fully  recognized  as  an  essential  part  of  the  supreme 
legislative  authority.  In  this  it  is  also  declared 
that  "all  the  respective  Christian  churches  now  in 
practice  in  the  city  of  New  York  and  the  other 
places  of  this  province  shall  from  henceforth  for- 
ever be  held  and  reputed  as  privileged  churches, 
and  shall  enjoy  all  their  former  freedoms  of  their 
religion  in  divine  worship  and  church  discipline." 
Nothing  could  promise  better  for  the  future  than 
this.  But  unfortunately  before  the  copy  to  which 
James  had  affixed  his  signature  was  sent  back  to 
this  country,  the  death  of  Charles  advanced  him  to 
the  throne.  New  York  consequently  became  a 
royal  province,  and  the  new  sovereign  plainly  did 
not  relish  the  idea  of  having  the  people  fully  asso- 
ciated with  himself  in  its  government.  He  there- 
fore repealed  the  Charter  of  Liberties,  and  a  year 
later,  by  his  order,  the  General  Assembly  was  dis- 
solved. The  province  thus  lay  helpless  in  his 
hands. 

The  instructions  which  he  now  sent  out  to  the 
governor  pointed  still  more  definitely  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Church  of  England  throughout  the 
province.  They  required  that  before  any  minister 
should  be  preferred  to  any  ecclesiastical  benefice, 
or  even  a  schoolmaster  permitted  to  keep  school,  in 
New  York,  a  certificate  of  license  must  be  ob- 
tained from  the  Bishop  of  Canterbury.     But  Gov- 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  27 

ernor  Dongan,  who  was  himself  a  Roman  Catholic, 
plainly  saw  both  the  injustice  and  the  absurdity  of 
these  conditions.  The  great  majority  of  the  people 
were  Dutch  Presbyterians,  and  the  rest  English 
Dissenters.  Only  a  handful  of  Episcopalians 
could  be  found,  and  these  had  not  a  single  church 
edifice.  The  idea,  therefore,  of  establishing  in  such 
communities  the  Church  of  England,  according  to 
the  elaborate  plan  proposed  by  the  king,  was  so 
preposterous  that  it  was  not  attempted.  The  gov- 
ernor himself  wrote  that  in  seven  years  not  more 
than  twenty  families  had  come  over  from  England, 
while  many  French  families  were  coming,  and 
several  Dutch  families  had  come.  In  the  same 
communication  he  makes  an  interesting  reference 
to  the  Dutch  church  in  the  fort.  "  A  great  church," 
he  says,  ''which  serves  both  the  English  and  the 
Dutch,  is  within  the  fort,  which  is  found  to  be  very 
inconvenient.  Therefore  I  desire  that  there  may 
be  an  order  for  their  building  another ;  ground  be- 
ing already  laid  out  for  that  purpose,  and  they  not 
wanting  money  in  store  wherewith  to  build  it.  The 
most  prevalent  opinion  is  that  of  the  Dutch  Cal- 
vinists."  I  shall  refer  again  in  a  moment  to  this 
project  of  erecting  a  new  church. 

Another  important  stage  in  the  history  of  the 
Dutch  Church  in  this  city  begins  with  the  deposi- 
tion of  James  and  the  accession  of  William  and 
Mary  in  1688.  This  great  revolution  in  English 
history,  as  it  is  properly  called,  led  to  the  Act  of 


28  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

Toleration,  by  which  the  era  of  enforced  uniformity 
and    of  consequent    persecution   in    England    was 
ended.      But  it  seemed  at  first  to  have  an  injurious 
influence  upon  the  cause  of  religious  freedom  in  the 
colonies.     The  secret  purpose  to  open  the  way  for 
the  progress  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  this 
country  was  now,   of  course,  abandoned,   and  the 
normal  policy  of  establishing  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land throughout  the  British  colonies  was  resumed. 
It   remained,    however,  to    be    seen    whether  this 
could  be  successfully  carried  out  in  a  population  so 
peculiar  as  that  of  New  York,  where  the  great  ma- 
jority were  neither  members  of  the  English  Church 
nor  (properly  speaking)  dissenters  from  it,  but  ad- 
herents of  another  national  church  which  was  a 
collateral  descendant  of  the  Reformation.     Happily, 
however,  in  1691  authority  was  given  to  the  gov- 
ernor to  restore  the  popular  Assembly,   and    this 
served  in  future  as  a  barrier  ag-ainst  the  desio^ns 
of  the  government  in  the  matter  of  a  religious  es- 
tablishment.      The    secret    instructions    given    by 
William  to  Governor  Sloughter  were  in  substance 
the  same  as  those  which  had  been  given  by  James 
to  his  predecessor,  Governor  Dongan,  except  that 
toleration  was  now  withheld  from  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics, and  the  proceeds  of  the  tax  imposed  for  the 
support  of  ministers   were  to   be   allowed  to   the 
minister  of  each  orthodox  church.     Whether  or  not 
this  term  "orthodox"  was  introduced  with  such  in- 
tention, it  was  afterward  explained  as  referring  to 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  29 

the  Church  of  England  alone.  The  American 
provinces  were  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Bishop 
of  London ;  and  if  these  secret  instructions  could 
have  been  carried  out,  neither  the  ministers  of  the 
Dutch  churches  nor  even  the  schoolmasters  could 
have  officiated  without  the  bishop's  certificate.  It 
was  contended  by  American  jurists  that  the  king's 
secret  instructions  did  not  have  the  force  of  law. 
In  accordance  with  them,  however,  the  governor 
presented  an  act  to  the  Assembly  for  the  proper 
maintenance  of  a  minister  in  every  town  of  forty 
families.  But  he  had  now  a  popular  Assembly  of 
Dutchmen  to  deal  with.  They  refused  to  pass  the 
act,  and  said  that  the  towns  had  ministers  enough. 
He  again  introduced  a  similar  bill,  which  met  with 
the  same  fate.  In  July,  1691,  he  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Governor  Fletcher,  who  pursued  the 
same  policy  with  equal  determination  and  with  a 
much  greater  display  of  temper.  In  1693  he  also 
recommended  a  bill  for  settling  a  ministry.  It  was 
rejected.  Thereupon  he  dissolved  the  Assembly 
with  an  angry  speech,  in  which  he  said :  "  Gentle- 
men, the  first  thing  that  I  did  recommend  to  you  at 
our  last  meeting  was  to  provide  for  a  ministry,  and 
nothing  is  done  in  it.  There  are  none  of  you  but 
what  are  big  with  the  privileges  of  Englishmen  and 
Magna  Charta,  which  is  your  right ;  and  the  same 
law  doth  provide  for  the  religion  of  the  Church  of 
England  against  Sabbath-breaking  and  all  other 
profanity.     But  as  you  have  made  it  last  and  post- 


30  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

poned  it  this  session,  I  hope  you  will  begin  with  it 
the  next  meeting,  and  do  somewhat  toward  it  effec- 
tually." The  next  year  he  repeated  his  recommen- 
dation, and  the  Assembly  appointed  a  committee 
of  eight  to  draft  a  bill  in  accordance  with  his  sug- 
gestions. This  was  the  famous  Ministry  Act,  which 
has  often  been  cited  as  establishing  the  Church  of 
England  in  this  colony.  This,  however,  it  did  not 
do,  and  was  not  intended  by  the  Assembly  to  do. 
It  provided  that  in  certain  parishes  in  four  out  of 
the  ten  counties  of  New  York  there  should  "be 
called,  inducted,  and  established  a  good,  sufficient 
Protestant  minister,  to  officiate  and  have  the  care 
of  souls."  And  it  then  went  on  to  provide  for  the 
raising  of  his  salary  by  taxation.  Considering  that 
the  great  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  Dutch 
Presbyterians,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  what  they 
meant  by  a  "good,  sufficient  Protestant  minister." 
The  bill  thus  drafted  was  sent  to  the  governor,  who 
returned  it  with  the  request  that  it  be  amended  so 
as  to  invest  him  with  the  power  of  inducting  all 
ministers  into  their  office.  The  Assembly  refused 
to  adopt  the  amendment,  assuring  the  governor 
that  in  the  "  drawing  of  the  bill  they  had  had  a  due 
regard  to  his  pious  intent  of  settling  a  ministry  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people."  The  rejection  of  his 
amendment,  as  well  as  the  liberal  character  of  the 
bill,  exasperated  Fletcher,  and  he  broke  up  the 
session  with  a  violent  speech.  "Gentlemen,"  he 
says,  "  in  this  thing  you  have  shown  a  great  deal 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  31 

of  stiffness.  You  take  upon  you  as  if  you  were 
dictators.  I  sent  down  to  you  an  amendment  of 
three  or  four  words  in  that  bill,  which,  though  very 
immaterial,  yet  was  positively  denied.  It  seems 
very  unmannerly.  It  is  the  sign  of  a  stubborn  ill 
temper.  You  have  set  a  long  time  to  little  pur- 
pose, and  have  been  a  great  charge  to  the  country. 
Ten  shillings  a  day  is  a  large  allowance,  and  you 
punctually  exact  it.  You  have  always  been  for- 
ward enough  to  pull  down  the  fees  of  other  minis- 
ters in  the  government.  Why  do  you  not  think  it 
expedient  to  correct  your  own  to  a  more  moderate 
allowance?  I  shall  say  no  more  at  present,  but 
that  you  do  withdraw  to  your  private  affairs  in  the 
country.  I  do  prorogue  you  to  the  loth  of  Janu- 
ary next." 

The  act  became  a  law,  however,  and  it  was  in- 
stantly interpreted  by  the  governor,  in  precise  op- 
position to  the  intent  of  those  who  had  framed  it, 
as  establishing  the  Church  of  England.  That  this 
was  not  its  intention  was,  however,  explicitly  de- 
clared by  the  Assembly  itself,  which,  in  answer  to  a 
petition,  asserted  that  a  church  had  a  right  to  call 
a  dissenting  Protestant  minister,  who  was  to  be 
paid  and  maintained  under  the  law.  And  Colonel 
Morris,  himself  an  earnest  churchman,  wrote  that 
it  would  "do  little  for  the  Church  except  with  the 
help  of  the  governor;  but  it  was  the  most,"  he 
said,  "  could  be  got  at  that  time,  for  had  more  been 
attempted,   the  Assembly  had  seen   through    the 


32  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

artifice,  being  most  of  them  Dissenters,  and  all  had 
been  lost."  The  law  was,  however,  almost  a  nul- 
lity from  the  outset.  Not  a  penny  was  collected 
under  it  for  nine  years,  and  the  installation  of  dis- 
senting ministers  went  on.  For  some  reason  the 
Ministry  Act  was  not  even  signed  by  the  king  un- 
til three  and  a  half  years  later,  viz.,  May  ii,  1697. 
This  was  five  days  after  the  charter  of  Trinity 
Church  had  been  granted  (on  the  6th  of  May,  1697), 
though  that  charter  bases  itself  upon  the  act. 

This  was  certainly  enough  to  make  plain  to  the 
people  the  persistent  intention  of  the  English 
government  in  regard  to  a  religious  establishment, 
and  to  cause  the  Dutch  to  feel  anxious  about  their 
ecclesiastical  safety.  I  have  referred  to  the  sug- 
gestion made  by  Governor  Dongan,  in  1687,  that 
the  church  of  New  York  needed  another  church 
edifice.  They  had  already  in  the  preceding  year 
petitioned  the  mayor  for  a  grant  of  a  piece  of  land 
and  permission  to  erect  a  church  upon  it ;  but  this 
petition  was  for  some  reason  not  presented.  In 
April,  1688,  they  petitioned  Governor  Dongan  for 
a  charter,  as  they  could  not  raise  money  and  buy 
land  unless  they  were  incorporated ;  but  their 
petition  was  denied.  In  1691,  however,  they  pur- 
chased a  plot  of  ground  on  what  was  called  Garden 
Street,  and  at  once  began  building.  The  land  at 
the  time  was  a  peach  orchard  belonging  to  the 
widow  of  Domine  Drisius.  It  now  bears  the  num- 
bers 41-51   Exchange  Place,  and  is  on  the  north 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  2>Z 

side  of  that  street,  between  William  and  Broad 
Streets.  Here  was  erected  the  Garden  Street 
church,  which  has  been  made  familiar  by  many  de- 
scriptions and  prints.  In  view  of  the  denial  of  the 
request  for  a  charter,  the  property  was  conveyed 
by  Samuel  Bayard,  merchant,  "to  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt,  Esq.,  Nicholas  Bayard,  Esq.,  and  Jonas 
Kipp,  in  trust  for  the  common  and  general  use  of 
the  minister,  elders,  and  deacons  of  the  Nether 
Dutch  Church  and  their  successors,  and  for  no 
other  use  or  uses  whatever."  The  deed  recites 
that  upon  this  plot  of  ground  a  suitable  building 
was  to  be  erected  for  the  use  of  the  church  above 
named,  professing  the  canons  of  the  National  Synod 
of  Dort. 

Meanwhile  the  contest  over  the  Ministry  Act  was 
going  on,  and  the  Dutch  people  felt  that  their  po- 
sition would  not  be  secure  until  a  charter  was  ob- 
tained. Twice  in  the  year  1695,  on  the  i8th  of 
April  and  on  the  19th  of  June,  they  again  petitioned 
for  this,  but  each  time  without  success.  Finally, 
on  the  nth  of  May,  1696,  a  charter  was  granted, 
signed  by  Governor  Fletcher,  and  sealed  with  the 
great  seal  of  the  province.  The  statement  has 
often  been  made  that  it  was  not  obtained  without  a 
bribe  offered  by  the  Consistory  to  the  governor,  in 
the  form  of  a  service  of  plate.  That  such  a  present 
was  made  to  him  is  quite  certain,  but  it  was  not 
voted  until  the  26th  of  July,  more  than  two  months 
after  the  charter  had  been  signed ;  and  it  was  de- 


34  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

signed  as  a  "  compliment  to  His  Excellency,  instead 
of  the  usual  fee."  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  any  such  consideration  was  promised  him  as 
an  inducement  for  obtaining  his  signature ;  but  in 
their  gratification  at  finally  obtaining  the  charter, 
the  Consistory  simply  voted  a  more  generous 
recognition  of  the  service  which  had  been  rendered 
them  than  that  which  the  law  prescribed. 

The  charter  itself  is  like  similar  documents.  It 
begins  with  the  name  and  title  of  the  king, 
"  William  III,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  Defender  of 
the  Faith."  It  first  enumerates  the  five  pieces 
of  property  which  were  owned  by  the  Church. 
It  then  affirms  it  to  be  the  royal  intention  to  pre- 
serve to  "  our  said  loving  subjects  and  their  suc- 
cessors the  liberty  of  worshiping  God  according 
to  the  constitutions  and  directions  of  the  Reformed 
churches  in  Holland,  approved  and  instituted  by 
the  National  Synod  of  Dort."  It  further  declares 
that  "our  royal  will  and  pleasure  is  that  no  person 
in  communion  of  said  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church  within  our  said  city  of  New  York  at  any 
time  hereafter  shall  be  any  ways  molested,  punished, 
disquieted,  or  called  in  question  for  any  difference 
in  opinion  in  matters  of  the  Protestant  religion, 
who  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civil  peace  of  our 
said  province."  It  confirms  the  property  specified 
"unto  the  sole  use  and  behalf  of  the  members  of 
the  said  Dutch  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York," 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  35 

naming  as  the  first  incorporators  Rev.  Henricus 
Selyns,  with  Nicholas  Bayard,  Stephen  Cortlandt, 
William  Beeckman,  and  Joannes  Kerbyle,  elders, 
and  Joannes  de  Peyster,  Jacobus  Kipp,  Isaac  de 
Forest,  and  Isaac  de  Reymer,  deacons;  and  pro- 
vides that  they,  "with  all  such  others  as  now  are, 
or  hereafter  shall  be,  admitted  into  the  communion 
of  said  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  our 
said  city  of  New  York,  shall  be  from  time  to  time 
and  at  all  times  forever  hereafter  a  body  politic 
and  corporate  in  fact  and  name."  More  important, 
however,  than  the  provisions  concerning  the  prop- 
erty is  the  following,  viz.,  "that  the  patronage, 
advowson,  donation,  or  presentation  of  and  to  the 
said  Church,  after  the  decease  of  the  said  first 
minister  or  next  avoidance  thereof,  shall  appertain 
and  belong  to,  and  be  hereby  vested  in,  the  elders 
and  deacons  of  the  said  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church  and  their  successors  forever ;  provided  al- 
ways that  all  the  succeeding  ministers  that  shall  be 
by  them  presented,  collated,  instituted,  and  inducted 
shall  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  unto  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors." 

The  document  ends  with  the  provision  that  there 
shall  be  paid  "unto  us,  on  the  feast  day  of  the  An- 
nunciation of  our  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  an  annual 
rent  of  twelve  shillings." 

The  care  of  this  precious  document  was  intrusted 
to  Domine  Selyns,  who,  as  he  writes,  accepted  the 
charge,  "although  not  too  willingly."     There  can 


36  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

be  little  doubt  that  it  had  been  obtained  largely 
through  his  prudent  and  persistent  efforts.  In  enu- 
merating its  contents  in  a  letter  written  a  few  months 
later,  he  puts  first  the  power  of  calling  one  or 
more  ministers,  choosing  elders,  deacons,  chorister, 
sexton,  etc.,  and  of  erecting  Dutch  schools,  all  in 
conformity  to  the  church  order  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort ;  and  then  mentions  the  right  of  possessing  a 
parsonage  and  other  church  property.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  great  thing  for  which  he  and  his 
associates  had  contended,  and  he  truly  observes 
that  "this  is  a  circumstance  which  promises  much 
advantage  to  God's  church,  and  quiets  the  formerly 
existing  uneasiness." 

I  cannot  take  time  to  pursue  further  the  story  of 
the  charter  of  this  historic  Church.  Attempts  were 
made  by  succeeding  governors  to  disturb  it,  but 
they  were  unsuccessful,  as  similar  attempts  have 
been  in  times  more  recent.  Let  me  point  out 
in  a  few  words  two  important  results  which  fol- 
lowed it.  In  the  first  place,  it  led  to  the  granting 
of  similar  charters  to  other  Dutch  churches  through- 
out New  York  and  New  Jersey.  The  liberty  of 
the  Dutch  Church  at  least  was  now  secure,  and 
with  that  the  principle  of  religious  equality  was 
firmly  settled.  Although  no  other  than  Dutch  and 
Episcopal  churches  succeeded  in  obtaining  charters, 
down  to  the  Revolution,  the  collection  of  church 
rates  from  the  freeholders  of  the  colony  for  the 
Episcopal  Church  could  not  be  successfully  made 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  37 

where  any  other  churches  were  thus  recognized  as 
estabHshed  by  law.  Even  as  late  as  1765  Domine 
Ritzema  writes:  "  Our  Netherlandish  Church  has 
always  been  regarded  by  the  Episcopalians  as  a 
national  church,  and  for  that  reason  held  in  esteem  ; 
and  the  kings  have  always  provided  our  churches 
with  charters."  With  the  Revolution  all  danger  of 
an  ecclesiastical  establishment  in  this  country  passed 
away,  but  the  story  of  the  successful  effort  of  the 
Dutch  in  New  York  to  secure  what  they  believed 
to  be  their  rights  is  an  important  chapter  in  the 
history  of  the  struggle  for  liberty  throughout  the 
land. 

The  other  result  which  followed  the  granting  of 
the  charter  to  the  Dutch  Church  was  that  it  opened 
the  way  to  the  conferring  of  similar  privileges  in  the 
following  year  upon  Trinity  Church.  The  charter 
of  Trinity,  granted,  as  I  have  already  mentioned, 
on  the  6th  of  May,  1697,  interprets  the  Ministry 
Act  as  establishing  the  Church  of  England,  and 
directs  that  the  annual  maintenance  of  £100 
authorized  by  it  must  be  paid  to  the  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  which  is  declared  to  be  the  only 
parish  church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Then  fol- 
lows this  clause:  "that  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  construed  or  taken  to  abridge  or  take  away 
any  right,  privilege,  benefit,  liberty,  or  license  that 
we  have  heretofore  granted  unto  any  church  in 
communion  of  our  Protestant  faith  within  our  said 
province  of  New  York."    This  reservation  is  plainly 


38  Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe 

meant  to  apply  to  the  special  rights  granted  to  the 
Dutch  Church  in  the  preceding  year.  Bishop 
Perry  remarks  that  "  it  is  even  now  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  this  Act  establishing  the  church  in  the 
city  of  New  York  against  the  evident  intent  and 
will  of  the  Assembly  should  have  been  carried 
through  without  eliciting  a  protest."  It  is  altogether 
probable  that  the  Assembly,  who  were  chiefly 
Dutchmen,  were  so  rejoiced  over  their  own  charter, 
and  saw  so  clearly  its  legal  effect,  that  they  made 
no  objection  to  the  claims  now  set  up  in  behalf  of 
Trinity  Church.  And  when  the  vast  benefactions 
conferred  by  that  church  upon  the  city  are  con- 
sidered, no  one  will  regret  that  the  act  by  which  it 
was  incorporated  was  not  opposed.  But  what  our 
ancestors  opposed  was  not  the  establishment  of 
an  Episcopal  Church  in  this  city.  Their  relations 
with  the  Episcopal  clergy  and  congregation  were 
always  most  friendly.  They  opposed  the  establish- 
ment of  the  English  Church  as  a  State  church  in 
this  colony,  and  the  consequent  treatment  of  other 
evangelical  Protestant  bodies  as  dissenters.  They 
carried  their  point,  and  when  this  was  gained,  there 
was  no  reason  why  they  should  not  welcome  the 
incorporation  of  Trinity.  Throughout  this  pro- 
longed struggle  against  the  official  establishment 
of  the  church  to  which  but  an  inconsiderable 
minority  of  the  people  belonged,  the  best  qualities 
of  the  Dutch  character  appear :  their  courage,  their 
perseverance,   their  moderation,   their  respect  for 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  39 

authority  and  law,  their  firm  devotion  to  liberty  of 
conscience.  It  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
momentous  struggle  which  their  countrymen  at 
home  had  a  generation  before  carried  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue,  but  it  commends  them  to  the  honor 
and  gratitude  of  all  who  prize  the  great  principle, 
as  truly  Dutch  as  it  is  truly  American,  of  a  free 
church  in  a  free  state. 


The  Chairman  :  We  have  invited  to  be  our 
guests  this  evening  representatives  of  those  churches 
which  were  in  existence  on  this  island  two  hundred 
years  ago:  the  French  Church,  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  the  Church  of  England.  Our  oldest 
friends  are  the  French.  I  need  not  remind  you 
that  there  were  many  Huguenots  among  the  earli- 
est settlers  of  New  Amsterdam.  In  his  famous 
letter,  written  in  1628,  Domine  Michaelius  mentions 
the  fact  that  he  was  preaching  to  them  in  their  own 
language,  though  he  adds  that  he  was  obliged  to 
have  his  manuscript  before  him,  as  he  could  not 
"  trust  himself  extemporaneously."  One  of  the  two 
first  elders  of  the  Dutch  Church  had  been  an  elder 
in  the  Huguenot  Church  at  Wesel  on  the  Rhine, 
and  the  first  Huguenot  minister  who  came  to  this 
colony  was  invited  hither  by  the  Dutch  Consistory. 
And  when  the  French  had  afterward  congregations 
and  edifices  of  their  own,  their  relations  with  the 
Dutch  continued  to  be  most  cordial  and  happy. 

We  had  hoped  to  have  the  pleasure  of  listening 
this  evening  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wittmeyer,  Rector  of 
the  French  Church  du  Saint  Esprit,  but  he  is  un- 
fortunately prevented  from  being  present  with  us 
by  severe  illness  in  his  family.  We  are  happy, 
however,  to  have  among  our  guests  the  distin- 
guished historian  of  the  Huguenots,  himself  one  of 
their  descendants,  who  has  done  so  much  to  make 
us  all  familiar  with  their  character  and  their 
history ;  and  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  intro- 
duce to  you  now  the  Rev.  Professor  Baird,  of  the 
New  York  University. 


40 


ADDRESS 


BY 


THE  REV.  HENRY  M.  BAIRD,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


EVEREND  Sir,  and  Brethren  of 
THE  Collegiate  Church  of  New 
York  :  It  is  certainly  much  to  be 
regretted  that  we  shall  not  have  the 
opportunity  of  listening-  to-night  to 
the  pastor  of  the  French  Church  "du 


Saint  Esprit,"  who  could  convey  as  no  one  else  can 
so  properly  convey,  to  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
New  York,  the  heartfelt  congratulations  of  the 
modern  successors  of  one  of  the  few  ecclesiastical 
organizations  in  existence  here  in  1696.  But,  as 
has  been  mentioned,  he  has  been  detained  by  grave 
illness  in  his  family ;  and  so  I  cheerfully  accept  the 
invitation  to  speak  a  few  words  in  his  stead. 

So  ancient  and  venerable  and  indeed  so  highly 
loved  and  greatly  prized  an  element  in  our  Chris- 


41 


42         Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird 

tian  population  as  the  Huguenot  should  not  be  de- 
prived of  the  privilege  of  making  its  voice  heard  on 
this  jubilant  occasion.  Reformed  Christians  from 
Holland  and  Reformed  Christians  from  France  did 
not  wait,  sir,  until  they  reached  New  Netherland 
before  finding  out  that  they  were  brethren.  Ever 
since  the  time  of  William  the  Silent  and  Louis  of 
Nassau,  ever  since  the  time  of  Gaspard  de  Coligny 
and  La  None  of  the  Iron  Arm,  the  Reformed  who 
were  derisively  styled  the  Beggars,  in  Holland, 
and  those  other  Reformed  that  were  opprobriously 
called  the  Huguenots  in  France,  had  stood  shoul- 
der to  shoulder  not  merely  in  the  contest  for  re- 
ligious freedom,  but  equally  in  the  moral  contest 
for  the  same  religious  profession.  They  had  toiled, 
they  had  suffered  persecution,  endured  banishment, 
encountered  death  in  attestation  of  identically  the 
same  faith.  It  matters  not  whether  it  was  at  the 
hands  of  Philip  II  and  the  Duke  of  Alva  or  at 
the  hands  of  the  Guises  and  Charles  IX.  Those 
much-defamed  articles  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  were 
no  less  an  expression  of  the  creed  of  the  Huguenots 
of  France  than  of  the  dwellers  in  the  low  countries. 
The  French  National  Reformed  Synod  of  Vitre 
chose  its  delegates  to  go  to  take  part  in  the  delib- 
erations of  Dort,  and  these  delegates  got  so  far  on 
their  way  as  Geneva  in  1618,  when  they  were 
overtaken  by  an  order  of  the  king  forbidding  them 
to  proceed  further.  So  much  afraid  were  the  ene- 
mies of  Protestantism  lest  its  professors  should  come 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird        43 

to  an  open  agreement  and  realize  their  doctrinal 
unity  !  But  this  interference  of  the  government 
did  not  prevent  the  Huguenots  from  approving  the 
conclusions  reached.  For  not  only  did  the  next 
Huguenot  Synod  meeting  at  Alais,  in  1620,  pub- 
licly read  and  unanimously  approve  the  Canons  of 
Dort,  but  all  the  members  proceeded  to  swear  and 
protest  each  for  himself  that  they  consented  to  this 
doctrine  and  that  they  would  defend  it  with  all 
their  ability  to  their  last  breath.  Not  only  so,  but 
they  prepared  a  formula  of  like  import  for  every 
member  of  all  future  synods,  whether  national  or 
provincial,  to  swear  to  and  sign. 

Agreeing  perfectly  both  in  doctrine  and  in  church 
polity,  the  Reformed  Churches  in  the  Netherlands 
and  the  Reformed  Churches  in  France  did  not  re- 
gard themselves  as  distinct  communions,  but  as 
what  they  really  were  —  members  of  the  same  com- 
munion, separated  territorially  because  falling 
within  the  bounds  of  two  separate  political  jurisdic- 
tions, and  speaking  two  distinct  tongues,  but  other- 
wise in  the  most  complete  accord.  Their  members 
would  have  scouted  the  suggestion  that  because 
they  were  born  on  this  side  or  that  of  the  Scheldt 
or  Rhine  and  had  a  different  language,  they  were 
therefore  of  different  religious  denominations.  It 
was  the  happy  lot  of  the  Reformed  of  Holland  to 
secure  their  national  independence  and  therewith 
complete  religious  freedom.  From  this  resulted  the 
circumstance  that  henceforth  they  became  the  hosts 


44        Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird 

and  the  Huguenots  became  their  guests.  And  this 
not  for  a  single  year;  no,  not  even  for  a  single 
century,  but  with  little  interruption  for  a  century 
and  a  half  Many  of  these  refugees  came  to 
America. 

Eleven  years  before  the  event  we  celebrate  to- 
night, in  October,  1685,  occurred  the  formal  Revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  may  have  sent 
a  round  hundred  thousand  French  Huguenots  to 
Holland.  But  the  first  Huguenots  that  came  to  New 
Amsterdam  and  settled,  some  on  this  island  and 
some  on  the  mainland,  must  have  left  their  original 
homes  more  than  sixty  years  earlier.  They  were 
mostly  Huguenots  from  the  French-speaking  part 
of  Flanders  or  the  Walloon  country  bordering  upon 
France,  and  hence  were  commonly  styled  Walloons. 
It  may,  I  believe,  be  regarded  as  pretty  well  estab- 
lished that  the  company  of  emigrants  that  came 
over  in  the  good  ship  "New  Netherland  "  in  May, 
1623,  and  effected  the  earliest  permanent  occupa- 
tion of  the  site  of  our  city,  was  composed  of  Hugue- 
nots or  Walloons  —  the  same  company  which  had 
a  year  or  two  before  been  treating  with  the  British 
ambassador  in  Holland  with  a  view  to  settling  in 
Virginia  or  the  English  territories.  If  so,  the  first 
settlement  of  New  Amsterdam  was  in  effect  a  Hu- 
guenot settlement.  And  certain  it  is  that  for  many 
years  the  French  continued  to  constitute  a  very 
important  portion  of  the  population  —  for  a  time 
perhaps  close  upon  one  half  of  it. 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird        45 

But  although  the  Huguenots  came  over  in  such 
numbers  and  continued  to  increase  by  successive 
emigrations,  they  remained  in  an  important  sense, 
for  many  years,  the  guests  of  the  Dutch.  Long 
did  they  depend  upon  the  natives  of  Holland  for 
the  supply  of  their  religious  wants.  Good  Jonas 
Michaelius,  a  clergyman  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  the  Netherlands,  was  the  first  Protestant  minis- 
ter, as  we  have  heard,  to  officiate  in  our  city  and  to 
gather  a  church.  This  was  in  1628,  or  five  years 
after  the  first  settlement.  At  the  first  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  supper,  as  an  extant  letter  certifies, 
he  had  "fully  fifty  communicants  —  Walloons  and 
Dutch  —  not  without  great  joy  and  comfort  for  so 
many."  On  one  occasion  at  least,  of  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  supper,  the  service  was  conducted 
in  French,  and  according  to  the  French  mode,  the 
worthy  minister  using  his  manuscript,  as  he  says 
he  could  not  trust  himself  to  preach  extempo- 
raneously in  that  language.  The  same  kindness 
that  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius  displayed  in  this  in- 
stance was  displayed  by  his  clerical  successors. 
Not  only  did  they  extend  a  hearty  welcome  to  the 
Walloons  and  French  Huguenots  to  worship  with 
their  Dutch  neigrhbours  in  the  little  church  built 
within  the  enclosure  of  the  fort,  and  to  derive  what 
benefit  they  could  from  the  sermons  and  prayers 
which  they  but  imperfectly  understood  on  account 
of  defective  knowledge  of  English  ;  they  preached 
to  them  in  French  whenever  they  had  gained  a 


46        Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird    . 

sufficient  command  of  French  to  render  this  prac- 
ticable. 

The  first  Huguenot  pastor  of  New  York  began 
his  ministrations  in  or  about  the  beginning  of 
1683.  A  native  of  France,  an  exile  for  his  faith, 
who  had  fled  in  the  years  immediately  preceding 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  Pierre  Daille 
had  been  invited,  we  are  told  on  good  authority  — 
and  I  am  glad  to  hear  it  confirmed  to-night  —  had 
been  invited  by  your  predecessors,  brethren  of  the 
Consistory  of  the  Collegiate  Church,  to  come  from 
Holland,  his  place  of  refuge,  to  preach  to  the  French 
inhabitants  of  New  York.  Your  Domine,  Hen- 
ricus  Selyns,  either  brought  him  with  him  in  1682 
or  preceded  him  to  America  by  a  very  few  months. 
At  any  rate,  these  two  ministers  were  from  the 
start,  or  shortly  afterwards  became,  warm  friends 
and  associates  in  Christian  work.  And  in  October, 
1683,  Selyns  wrote  to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam, 
"  Domine  Pierre  Daille,  late  professor  at  Saumur, 
has  become  my  colleague.  He  is  full  of  fire,  god- 
liness and  learninor.  Banished  on  account  of  his 
religion,  he  maintains  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ 
with  untirinor  zeal." 

O 

You  see,  gentlemen,  a  good  reason,  additional 
to  the  reasons  I  have  given,  based  upon  Dutch 
hospitality,  for  congratulations  from  the  Huguenots 
of  New  York.  The  first  Huguenot  pastor  of  New 
York  was  invited  by  your  Consistory  to  become  a 
colleague  of  the  excellent  Domine  Selyns.     For  a 


Address  by  the  Rrc.  Dr.  Baird        47 

time  at  least,  the  French  congregation  worshiped 
the  Almighty,  through  the  kindness  of  the  Dutch, 
in  the  old  Church  in  the  Fort,  during  the  intermis- 
sion between  mornino;  and  afternoon  services. 
There  their  numbers  grew  steadily  under  the  favor- 
ing influence  of  their  hosts  until  in  168S  the  wor- 
shipers had  grown  strong  enough  to  leave  this 
shelter  and  build  for  themselves  a  home  of  their 
own  in  Marketheld  Street,  or,  as  it  was  variously 
called,  Petticoat  Lane,  on  ground  now  covered  by 
the  Produce  Exchano-e.  It  was  in  this  small  and 
unpretending  church  that  the  Huguenots  were 
worshiping  God  when  Daille  resigned,  to  go  to  the 
French  Church  of  Boston,  just  two  hundred  years 
ago,  in  the  very  year  of  the  granting  of  the  charter 
of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Xew  York,  of  which  we 
celebrate  to-night  the  bicentenary.  The  friendly 
and  most  cordial  relations  which  have  always  ex- 
isted between  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church  and  the  "Church  of  the  French  Refugees 
in  Xew  York  "  as  it  was  styled,  and  which  never 
ceased  to  subsist  —  the  more  than  hospitable  care 
which  the  former  for  so  long  a  time  exercised  for 
the  spiritual  wants  of  the  latter  —  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  common  faith  and  a  common  trust  in  one 
and  the  same  Saviour  —  these  of  themselves  would 
be  sufficient  motives  to  prompt  the  descendants  of 
the  Huguenots  to  entertain  and  to  express  devout 
thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  long  and  honorable 
existence  of  that  ecclesiastical  body  in  one  of  whose 
churches  we  meet  to-nieht. 


48        Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird 

But  weightier  grounds  for  gratitude  to  heaven 
and  of  feHcitations  addressed  to  you  are  to  be  found 
in  the  fidelity  with  which  the  Divine  Word  has 
been  preached  during  this  long  space  of  time,  and 
in  the  ofreat  multitude  of  souls  which  that  Word 
under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  has 
won  for  Christ.  Unum  corpus  sumus  in  Christo. 
Your  victories  for  the  Master  are  our  victories  too, 
for  we  are  the  followers  of  the  same  leader.  In 
the  warm  and  certain  anticipation  of  your  future 
usefulness,  in  the  sure  confidence  that  your  past 
successes  are  the  presage  of  still  greater  successes 
and  triumphs  during  the  centuries  to  come,  we 
congratulate  you  equally  on  the  history  that  you 
have  made,  and  on  the  prospect  that  lies  before 
you.  May  God  bless  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
New  York. 


The  Chairman  :  We  hope  for  a  message  of  for- 
giveness as  well  as  of  congratulation  from  the  hon- 
ored representative  of  the  Lutheran  Church  who  is 
now  to  address  us.  For  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
Dutch  were  not  very  hospitable  to  the  Lutherans. 
Always  zealous  for  the  purity  of  the  faith,  they 
were  alarmed  at  the  multiplication  of  sects  on  this 
island,  and  expressed  their  fear  that  if  this  were  not 
checked,  the  place  might  becom.e  a  "receptacle  for 
all  sorts  of  fanatics  and  heretics."  They  conse- 
quently protested  against  the  establishment  of  a 
Lutheran  church  here,  and  the  first  Lutheran  min- 
ister who  came  over  from  Holland,  without  author- 
ity either  from  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  or  from 
the  West  India  Company,  was  obliged  to  go  home 
again. 

But  the  city  has  long  since  become  large  enough 
for  the  followers  of  Luther  and  the  followers  of  Cal- 
vin to  work  and  worship  harmoniously  side  by  side. 
And  we  heartily  welcome  this  evening  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Remensnyder,  who  holds  so  eminent  a  place  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  of  this  city. 


49 


ADDRESS 


BY 


THE   REV.  J.  B.  REMENSNYDER,  D.  D. 


HE  historian  Froude  says  that  of  two 
of  the  greatest  characters  in  the  reli- 
gious regeneration  of  the  sixteenth 
century  Holland  contributed  one, 
Erasmus,  and  Germany  the  other, 
Luther.  And  in  1525,  four  years 
after  Luther's  celebrated  stand  at  Worms,  Erasmus 
writes :  "The  greater  part  of  the  people  in  Holland, 
Zealand  and  Flanders  know  the  doctrine  of  Luther." 
So  rapidly  was  the  evangelical  movement  of  the 
Reformation  already  spreading  to  Holland.  There 
also  the  first  martyr  blood  was  shed,  so  that  it  was 
"to  the  dear  brethren,  in  Holland,  Flanders,  etc.," 
that  Luther  wrote  his  memorable  letter  beginning: 
"To  you  it  is  given  before  all  the  world  not  only  to 
hear  the  restored  gospel,  but  also  to  be  the  first  for 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensityder    51 

Christ's  sake  to  suffer  shame  and  loss,  prison  and 
danger,  pain  and  anguish,  and  to  have  sprinkled 
and  confirmed  your  testimony  with  your  own  blood." 
Holland  thus  early  imbibed  the  Reformation  and 
very  nearly  became  Lutheran.  But  Calvin  arising 
upon  the  theological  horizon,  conflicts  soon  arose 
between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Lutherans.  In 
1567  the  famous  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of 
Orange,  urged:  "Do  what  you  have  so  often  been 
advised  to  do.  Unite  with  the  Lutherans.  The 
difference  is  too  small  for  you  to  keep  up  separate 
interests."  But  this  good  advice,  as  is  so  often  the 
case,  was  rejected,  and  Holland  became  Reformed. 
However,  there  remained  many  Lutherans  in  Hol- 
land, and  particularly,  the  congregation  in  Amster- 
dam with  its  two  churches,  six  ministers  and  30,000 
members,  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  largest 
Lutheran  congregation  in  the  world.  And  from 
Holland  came  the  first  Lutherans  to  America. 
This  was  in  1628,  the  same  year  that  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  was  founded.  These  Dutch 
Lutherans  came  to  New  York,  or  New  Amsterdam. 
It  was  a  German,  Peter  Minuit,  a  native  of  Rhen- 
ish Prussia,  who,  as  Director  General  of  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  bought  Manhattan  Island 
from  the  Indians  for  twenty  four  dollars.  The  Re- 
formed and  Lutherans  got  along  very  well  together 
in  New  Amsterdam,  until  the  Lutherans  made  bold 
to  call  a  pastor,  the  Rev.  John  Ernst  Goetwater, 
from  Holland.     The  new  minister  was  not  received 


52    Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder 

with  the  courtesies  frequently  extended  by  clergy- 
men to  a  new  pastor.  But  his  arrival  caused  great 
excitement  in  the  city.  Had  it  not  been  for  his 
severe  illness  he  would  not  even  have  been  per- 
mitted to  land.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  able,  this 
Dutch  Lutheran  Minister  was  sent  back  to  Holland 
with  several  disorderly  characters  as  all  dangerous 
to  the  peace  of  the  community.  And  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant,  the  Governor,  issued  a  proclamation,  threat- 
ening anyone  with  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds 
for  preaching  in  a  Lutheran  service,  and  twenty-five 
pounds  for  attending  one.  Such  was  the  ingrati- 
tude shown  by  the  daughter  to  the  ecclesiastical 
mother  of  Protestantism.  And  I  am  here  to-night 
to  reciprocate  these  kindly  and  hospitable  amenities 
extended  to  my  first  clerical  Lutheran  predecessor 
in  New  York.  Later  the  Lutherans  attained  religi- 
ous toleration  and  in  1663  built  their  first  church, 
and  in  1684  erected  a  log  church  at  Broadway  and 
Rector  Street,  opposite  Trinity  Episcopal  Church. 
Says  a  contemporary  record  of  this  epoch  :  "  New 
York  has  but  four  clergymen  ;  first,  a  chaplain  be- 
longing to  the  fort,  of  the  Church  of  England ; 
secondly,  a  Dutch  Calvinist ;  thirdly,  a  French 
Calvinist;  fourthly,  a  Dutch  Lutheran."  But  even 
this  small  number  did  not  dwell  quite  in  saintly 
harmony.  For  the  English  rector  relates  the 
amusing  incident,  that  as  the  Dutch  Reformed  and 
Lutheran  ministers  were  not  upon  speaking  terms, 
he  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  inviting  both  them  and 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder    53 

their  wives  to  dinner,  as  a  surprise.  When  their 
first  embarrassment  had  worn  off,  the  belHoferent 
clergymen  became  very  sociable  and  entered  into 
an  intimate  talk  in  Latin,  leaving  their  Church  of 
England  host  solitary  and  somewhat  chagrined,  as 
he  says  he  was  unable  to  follow  them.  Thus  he 
bridged  over  this  difficulty,  but  later  the  three 
other  ministers  joined  in  a  protest  to  the  Governor 
against  the  fourth,  the  Lutheran  minister,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  receiving  the  lion's  share  of 
fees,  performing  the  larger  part  of  the  pastoral 
offices. 

The  first  Lutheran  minister  preached  in  the 
Dutch  language,  and  the  Dutch  Lutheran  Church 
in  New  York  was  under  the  care  of  the  Dutch 
Lutheran  Consistory  in  Amsterdam.  All  these  in- 
timacies of  origin,  despite  the  little  unpleasantness 
we  have  noted,  could  not  but  leave  many  resem- 
blances between  the  two  churches.  Especially  in 
the  matter  of  government  has  the  Dutch  Lutheran 
Church  in  New  York,  which  took  its  polity  from 
the  Amsterdam  Lutheran  Church,  which  was 
modeled  after  the  Reformed,  exerted  a  moulding 
and  enduring  influence  upon  the  organization  of 
the  Lutheran  Churches  in  the  United  States.  Our 
theory  being  with  Augustine  that  the  identity  and 
unity  of  the  Church  consist  not  in  the  outward 
order,  which  can  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  differ- 
ent countries  and  times,  but  in  the  bond  of  truth, 
in  the  pure  doctrine  and  sacraments,  this  could  the 


54    Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder 

more  easily  be  done  without  compromise  of  prin- 
ciple. Nor  are  the  two  churches  without  important 
resemblances  of  a  deeper  character.  Wrote  that 
eminent  and  revered  servant  of  God  and  knightly 
champion  of  truth,  the  late  Dr.  T.  W.  Chambers: 
"  The  Reformed  Church  is  eminently  confessional ; 
ministers  are  required  to  subscribe  the  Confession 
and  Catechism,  and  to  pledge  themselves  in  writing 
not  to  promulgate  any  subsequent  change  of  views 
without  previously  consulting  the  classis  to  which 
they  belong."  That  is,  Reformed  believe  with 
Lutherans,  that  the  creed  is  authoritative  in  a 
Christian  church ;  that  a  minister  is  under  some 
responsibility  to  the  church  that  gives  him  his  holy 
commission  ;  and  that  if  he  chooses  to  depart  from 
"the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  to 
preach  a  new  and  individual  gospel,  the  church  is 
not  to  be  deterred  by  the  cry  of  heresy-hunting, 
and  by  the  protests  of  foolish  crowds  and  secular 
journals,  from  withdrawing  from  him  the  authority 
of  its  name.  Indeed  the  late  Dr.  Krauth,  an 
eminent  Lutheran  scholar,  said  truly  of  both 
churches,  Reformed  and  Lutheran,  that  however 
much  they  diverged  as  did  Calvin  and  Luther,  they 
still  had  the  affinity  of  those  two  great  Christian 
leaders,  viz.,  an  unbending  moral  backbone.  Both 
are  orthodox  to  the  core.  Both  stand  fixed 
and  moveless  on  the  Rock  of  Truth,  their  confession 
firm  and  unwavering  at  a  time  of  widespread  un- 
certainty and  danger,  when  in  many  parts  of  Chris- 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder    55 

tendom  thousands  are  sadly  wondering  whether  the 
sands  under  their  feet  are  shifty  or  no.  So  even  if 
your  church  did  once  persecute  ours,  we  can  the 
more  easily  forgive  you,  since  it  was  the  excess  of 
a  loyalty  to  truth  and  conscience,  of  which  we  have 
all  too  little  in  our  day.  Let  us  remember  that 
there  is  an  excess  of  liberalism  too,  and  that  it  is  the 
most  dangerous  and  fatal  of  all  excesses.  Very 
significant  was  the  remark  of  that  eminent  Chris- 
tian jurist,  the  late  Judge  Jeremiah  Black,  who 
upon  being  told  that  the  somewhat  illiberal  moral 
notions  of  the  past  were  fast  going  out  of  date,  re- 
plied, "  Yes,  and  I  notice  that  the  finer  shades  of 
conscientiousness  are  going  out  with  them  too." 

As  the  two  denominations  then  are  bound  by  so 
many  links  of  history  and  moral  affinity,  it  affords 
me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  bring  to  you  on  this 
night  of  your  200th  Anniversary,  the  heartiest 
goodwishes  and  congratulations  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  She  wishes  that  God  may  speed  and 
bless  you  in  the  future  in  your  good  work  as  He 
has  in  the  past.  It  is  indeed  to  be  regretted  that 
these  two  and  all  Protestant  churches  are  not  one. 
The  one  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of 
the  Nicene  Symbol,  certainly  neither  means  nor 
contemplates  all  these  organic  divisions.  It  did 
not  mean  them  in  the  Apostolic,  Primitive  or  Me- 
diaeval Acre.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  it  means  them 
in  this  Modern  Age.  True  Christian  Unity  means 
not  a  mere  sentimental  meeting  like  this,  now  and 


56    Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Remensnyder 

then,  a  somewhat  empty  exchange  of  courtesies 
over  Chinese  denominational  walls ;  nor  does  it 
mean  separate  organizations,  conflicting  confessions, 
and  divergent  interests.  But  it  means  One  Lord, 
One  Faith,  One  Baptism,  One  Fold  and  One 
Shepherd,  i.  e.,  Church  Unity.  Such  issues  in- 
deed wait  long  on  time.  But  let  us  prayerfully, 
patiently  and  sacrificingly  keep  before  us  the  idea 
and  goal  of  One  Holy  Universal  Church,  in  which 
all  our  denominational  divisions  shall  disappear, 
and  there  shall  be  but  one  common  worldwide 
Christian  army,  the  multitudinous  columns  march- 
ing under  the  same  banner  of  the  Cross,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  over  all. 


The  Chairman  :  Strenuous  as  our  fathers  were 
in  their  opposition  to  the  poHcy  of  estabhshing  a 
State  Church  in  this  colony,  the  relations  between 
the  Dutch  Church  and  the  Church  of  England 
were  from  the  outset  most  friendly.  English  ser- 
vices were  held  for  twenty-nine  years  in  the  Dutch 
church  in  the  Fort,  through  the  hospitality  of  the 
congregation  to  which  it  belonged,  and  when  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Vesey  who  had  been  ordained  in  England 
was  inducted  into  office  as  the  first  rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  two  Dutch  ministers  took  part  in  the  ser- 
vice. The  service  itself  was  held  in  the  Dutch 
church  in  Garden  Street,  where  the  English  con- 
gregation continued  to  worship  for  several  months, 
until  their  edifice  was  completed.  This  hospitality 
was  courteously  reciprocated  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  Garden  Street  church  was  transformed 
by  the  British  into  a  hospital,  and  the  use  of  St. 
George's  Chapel  was  offered  by  the  Episcopalians 
to  the  Dutch  congregation,  who  worshiped  there 
until  their  own  edifice  was  restored  to  them. 

At  our  Quarter-Millennial  Celebration,  in  1878, 
one  of  the  most  cordial  addresses  was  delivered  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Dix,  the  present  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church.  I  have  before  me  a  letter  from  him  ad- 
dressed to  the  Committee  and  explaining  his 
absence  to-night,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad 
to  have  me  read.  After  this,  we  shall  have  the 
pleasure  of  listening  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany,  Arch- 
deacon of  the  Diocese  of  New  York. 


57 


LETTER 

FROM 

THE  REV.  MORGAN  DIX,  S.  T.  D.,  D.  C.  L. 

Trinity  Rectory, 
New  York,  May  ii,  1896. 

To  THE  Rev.  Edward  B.  Coe,  D.D.,  Mr.  Henry 
W.  Bookstaver,  and  Mr.  Frederic  R.  Hutton. 

Dear  Brethren :  Being  prevented  by  an  impor- 
tant engagement  which  cannot  be  evaded,  from 
attending  the  services  to  be  held  this  evening, 
commemorative  of  the  two  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  granting  of  its  charter  to  the  ancient  and 
venerated  Collegiate  Church  of  New  York,  I  send 
you  these  lines,  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  invita- 
tion, to  express  my  regret  at  being  unable  to  take 
part  in  the  exercises  of  the  evening,  and  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  this  auspicious  day.  Your  church 
was  founded,  as  is  well  known,  many  years  before 
you  obtained  your  charter ;  its  existence  dates  from 
1628.  It  is  not  so  well  known,  perhaps,  that  your 
charter  was  obtained  from  the  English  government, 
before  that  government  granted  its  charter  to  our 
Trinity  Church.  We  recall  the  fact,  without  grudg- 
ing you  the  priority  in  time ;  nay,  we  are  glad  of 
that  proof  of  the  liberality  of  a  State  of  which  the 

58 


Letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dix  59 

Church  of  England  was,  under  Magna  Charta,  an 
integral  part.  Moreover,  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  affirm,  as  I  do  after  much  study  of  the  annals  of 
the  Dutch  Collegiate  Church  and  the  parish  of 
Trinity  Church  in  this  city  of  New  York,  that 
the  relations  of  the  two  bodies  were,  from  the 
beginning,  kind  and  friendly,  and  that  each  was 
indebted  to  the  other,  from  time  to  time,  for  acts 
of  courtesy,  often  very  valuable,  and  always  illus- 
trative of  the  respect  and  affection  by  which  the 
members  of  the  two  communions  were  drawn  to- 
gether. I  may  add  that  those  sentiments  have  con- 
tinued, from  the  first,  through  two  centuries,  to  the 
present  day,  which  finds  us  still  dwelling  together 
in  this  metropolis,  in  peace  and  concord.  I  now 
send  you,  from  our  household  of  faith,  a  hearty 
greeting,  with  the  hope  and  prayer  that  the  two 
corporate  bodies  may  work  on  together,  as  they 
have  been  doing  so  long,  in  the  sacred  cause  of  re- 
ligion. Christian  education,  and  good  manners,  to 
the  edification  of  the  community  ;  and  that  we  may 
be  drawn  nearer  and  nearer  to  one  another  in  sym- 
pathy and  friendship,  looking  for  the  happy  day 
when  the  barriers  shall  fall,  and  Christians  shall  be 
one  in  visible  and  organic  unity,  as  now  in  the  love 
of  God  and  faith  in  the  Redeemer  of  mankind.  The 
Peace  of  our  Lord  be  with  you. 

Very  sincerely  and  truly  your  brother, 

MORGAN  DIX, 

Rector  of  Trinity  Church. 


ADDRESS 


BY 


THE  REV.  C.  C.  TIFFANY,   D.D. 


RIENDS  AND  BRETHREN  OF  THE  COLLE- 

GiATE  Church  :  Your  pastor,  in  his 
kindly  allusions  to  the  comity  which 
has  existed  from  the  beginning  be- 
tween this  ancient  ecclesiastical  cor- 
poration and  that  which  represented 
the  Church  of  England  in  the  early  days  of  the  his- 
tory of  New  York,  and  the  very  cordial  and  admir- 
able letter  of  the  venerable  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
have  taken  out  of  my  mouth  a  good  part  of  my 
speech. 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  to  me  that  Dr.  Dix 
himself  was  not  able  to  be  present  to-night ;  repre- 
senting as  he  does  in  his  own  person,  as  a  scholar 
and  divine,  so  worthily  the  church  of  which   he  is 

60 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany       6i 

the  chief  rector  in  this  city  ;  and  that  in  his  absence 
the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  could  not  be  here.  The 
Bishop  most  sincerely  regrets  his  enforced  ab- 
sence, and  when  he  asked  me  to  take  his  place  he 
begged  that  I  would  not  forget  to  state,  and  that 
with  emphasis,  how  much  gratification  it  would 
have  given  him  to  have  been  here  to-night,  and 
to  have  spoken  a  few  words  of  cheer  and  of  con- 
gratulation to  this  church  and  congregation. 

But  as  you  could  not  have  those  most  fitting  to 
appear  and  whom  you  most  wanted,  I  at  least  have 
this  consolation  that  neither  of  them  could  have 
enjoyed  being  here  more  than  I  do.  It  is  a  delight 
to  me  to  know  that  I  am  here  as  representative  of 
a  church  which  has  always  felt  the  kindest  regard 
for  your  own  ecclesiastical  body,  and  which  will 
continue  so  to  do.  I  was  introduced  as  the  Arch- 
deacon of  New  York ;  you  may  wonder  what  such 
a  creature  is.  Simply  this :  that  he  was  of  old 
called  the  Ociilus  Episcopi,  or  the  eye  of  the 
bishop,  and  was  appointed  to  do  such  work  as  a 
presbyter  might  legitimately  do  to  assist  the  Epis- 
copal office.  As  old  Canon  Hakluyt  said,  ''Plus 
vident  oculi  quain  ocidiLSy^  and  in  order  to  look 
and  act  where  at  the  moment  the  bishop  cannot 
be,  the  archdeacon  exists  as  a  subordinate  yet  nec- 
essary representative. 

I  meant  to  speak  at  length  of  the  admirable 
Christian  courtesy  shown  in  the  early  history  of 
these  two  churches  on  this  island,  but   I  will  not 


62       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr  Tiffany 

dwell  upon  that  now.  I  will  only  remark  that 
when  Trinity  Church  in  1780  loaned  St.  George's 
Chapel  to  the  Dutch  congregation  while  their  own 
church  was  occupied  by  the  British  as  a  hospital, 
the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church  in  making  that  loan 
said  that  they  cherished  a  most  affectionate  re- 
membrance of  the  ancient  courtesy,  which  had 
been  extended  to  their  own  communion  more  than 
a  hundred  years  before,  in  the  use  of  the  old  Fort 
church  by  the  Dutch,  and  wished  that  this  courtesy 
might  be  interpreted  as  a  continuation  of  the  kind 
feeling  which  existed  of  old.  The  Collegiate 
Church,  in  thanking  Trinity  for  this  courtesy, 
represented  themselves  as  a  congregation  which 
considered  the  interests  of  the  two  churches  to  be 
inseparable,  and  trusted  that  this  kindly  exhibition 
of  courtesy  would  convey  to  future  generations  an 
evidence  of  the  cordiality  and  respect  which  their 
communion  had  always  cherished  for  the  Church 
of  England.  And  I  am  free  to-night,  brethren,  to 
say  that  it  does  continue,  and  to  cry  Esto  pcrpetua. 
I  think  we  do  get  nearer  each  other  in  these  days 
than  we  did  in  the  days  gone  by.  At  least  in  one 
particular  we  are  nearer,  and  that  is  in  the  use  of 
language.  For  when,  as  your  pastor  has  said,  the 
first  rector  of  Trinity  Church  was  inducted  into 
office,  the  edifice  of  Trinity  Church  not  being  yet 
completed,  the  service  was  held  in  the  Garden 
Street  church,  out  of  which  garden  has  blossomed 
this  gorgeous  flower  of  Gothic  architecture  in  which 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany       63 

we  are  gathered  to-night.  At  that  service,  where 
Domine  Selyns  of  New  York  and  Domine  Nucella 
of  Kingston  bore  their  part  as  subscribing  witnesses, 
the  services  were  carried  on  in  Latin  because  the 
various  parties  understood  Latin  better  than  they 
did  the  language  of  each  other.  I  think  if  Pro- 
fessor Peck  of  Columbia  Collesfe  were  to  make  a 
strict  examination  either  of  the  ministers  or  of  the 
laymen  of  the  respective  churches  to-day,  he  would 
hardly  find  that  to  be  the  ca^e.  But  it  was  not 
only  that  the  two  churches  stood  side  by  side  in 
mutual  respect,  there  were  undercurrents  drawing 
them  very  forcibly  together,  but  at  this  late  hour  I 
will  only  indicate  them.  These  lay  chiefly  in  two 
particulars  :  in  their  common  liturgical  instinct  and 
in  their  theological  tone.  The  historic  Reformed 
Church  of  Holland  as  well  as  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land worshiped  in  the  use  of  a  liturgy,  and  this 
usapfe  has  pfreat  influence  in  moldino-  the  form 
and  giving  the  tone  to  the  Christian  life.  The 
utterance  of  measured  and  chastened  forms  of  de- 
votion; the  regular  onward  movement  of  the  Chris- 
tian year;  the  anticipation  and  celebration  of  the 
o-reat  festivals,  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsuntide; 
give  a  serenity  of  tone  and  temper  to  the  Chris- 
tian's experience,  which  causes  it  to  shrink  from 
excitements  and  individual  eccentricities,  and 
makes  it  a  calm  progress  rather  than  an  agitation 
of  the  soul.  The  religious  type  becomes  one  of 
quietude  and  lack  of  self-consciousness.     The  atmo- 


64       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 

sphere  generated  of  a  liturgy  thus  draws  those  who 
use  it,  though  in  different  form  and  measure,  into 
a  sympathy  felt  if  not  wholly  understood.  Thus 
the  liturgical  uses  of  the  two  churches  produced  a 
similar  type  of  religious  character  which  induced 
mutual  respect. 

Again,  the  doctrinal  tone  of  the  two  churches  was 
sympathetic.  In  both  of  them  at  this  time  it  was 
distinctly  Calvinistic.  Though  with  the  Second 
Charles  and  the  Second  James  the  Anglo-Catholic 
theology  rose  into  prominence  in  the  English 
Church,  the  great  body  was  largely  permeated 
with  the  Calvinism  which  had  been  held  and  incul- 
cated by  the  great  bishops  and  theologians  of  the 
age  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.  The  latter  king 
had  sent  delegates  to  the  Synod  of  Dort.  Cal- 
vinism, save  in  some  conspicuous  individuals,  was 
always  more  subdued  in  the  English  Church  than 
in  the  Dutch,  but  it  was  as  really  there.  It  largely 
infused  the  spirits  of  all  the  adventurers  who  sought 
these  shores,  and  bound  together  in  mutual  respect 
those  whose  theological  systems  were  in  such  near 
accord.  The  salutary  (if  in  this  presence  I  may 
use  the  adjective)  influence  of  Arminius  and  of  the 
great  law-giver  Grotius  leavened  the  subsequent 
theology  of  England  far  more  than  that  of  Holland. 
While  I  rejoice  in  it  I  am  still  free  to  say  that  he 
who  reads  the  history  of  that  time  and  fails  to  rec- 
ognize the  worth  and  influence  of  Calvinism  in 
building  up  the  strongholds  of  religious  liberty,  of 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany       65 

which  we  are  the  happy  inheritors,  as  has  been 
well  said,  reads  history  with  one  eye  shut.  Though 
it  seems  to  me  there  are  better  expositions  of 
Christianity  than  that,  the  profound  underlying 
truths  which  constitute  its  basis  are  the  very  bul- 
wark and  fortress  both  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
And  it  was  that  spirit  which  inflamed  and  which 
made  itself  enthusiastic  in  both  the  old  church  of 
Holland  and  the  old  church  of  England,  which  made 
their  successors  on  this  continent  and  on  this  island 
draw  nearer  and  nearer  together  in  friendly  sym- 
pathy and  in  mutual  respect. 

Not  only  that;  for  both  communions  this  system 
was  modified  and  regulated,  and,  I  think,  elevated 
and  ennobled  by  the  emphasis  which  is  so  strongly 
placed  both  in  the  old  Dutch  communion  and  in 
the  comrnunion  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  on  the 
value,  the  sacredness  and  the  greatness  of  the 
Christian  sacraments.  For  you  with  us  emphasize 
them,  those  great  institutes  and  witnesses  of  the 
divine  grace  which,  apart  from  all  human  feelings 
and  all  human  attainments,  declare  God's  attitude 
of  love  and  blessing.  As  in  baptism.  He  takes  us 
in  our  very  childhood  into  His  Kingdom,  and 
claims  us  as  the  heirs  of  His  eternal  life.  As  in 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  He  teaches  us 
of  His  constant  access  to  the  soul,  which  He  vouch- 
safes to  transform  and  impenetrate  by  the  very  life 
of  the  Redeemer.  It  is  this  great  sacramental 
system  which  your  church  emphasizes  as  does  our 


66       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 

own,  that  evolves  a  unity  of  character,  a  community 
of  sympathy,  a  characteristic  temper,  which  make 
it  very  easy  for  one  to  find  himself  at  home  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  other. 

And  so  I  say  there  were  deep  reasons  for  the 
comity  which  existed,  which  were  more  powerful 
than  the  mere  external  circumstances  in  which  our 
forefathers  were  placed.  Providence  had  indeed 
so  ordered  the  affairs  and  the  unruly  wills  of  sinful 
men  at  that  time,  that  when  the  English  came  here 
and  became  the  supreme  power  in  the  island,  it  was 
at  a  time  when  the  Second  James,  because  of  his 
own  Roman  Catholicism,  sought  to  give  a  general 
toleration  to  various  religious  opinions,  in  order 
that  his  own  communion  might  be  shielded  from 
proscription.  Thus  the  dissenting  Protestants  be- 
came heirs  of  a  grace  which  was  not  perhaps  alto- 
gether stimulated  by  affection  for  them.  Then,  in 
the  age  of  William  III,  whose  name  appears  on 
this  venerable  charter  whose  giving  we  celebrate 
to-night,  a  higher  reason  for  toleration  arose.  He 
had  been  called  to  Eno^land  from  Holland  because 
he  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  exiled  king, 
and  he  could  not  forget  his  compatriots.  He  was 
sure  to  direct  his  ministers  to  grant  them  their 
charter,  that  their  rights  might  not  be  assailed. 

And  that  charter,  for  which  I  rejoice  with  you, 
and  feel  indebted  for  the  clear  elucidation  which 
your  pastor  has  given  of  its  meaning  and  signifi- 
cance, was  a  beginning   here  of  religious  liberty 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany       67 

protected  by  law.  Yet  I  very  much  doubt  if  in  the 
temper  of  those  times  it  would  have  been  given,  if 
it  had  not  been  intended  to  be  the  precursor  of  that 
future  charter  of  the  English  Church,  which  enabled 
the  governor  as  representing  the  English  govern- 
ment and  the  officers  of  the  royal  army  here,  and 
all  those  who  constituted  its  diplomatic  service,  to 
appropriate  to  Trinity  Church  the  enactment  of 
1693,  which  established  a  State  support  for  five 
ministers,  one  in  each  of  the  four  counties  of  New 
York.  With  diplomatic  skill  Governor  Fletcher 
managed  so  to  treat  the  Dutch,  who  got  what  they 
substantially  deserved  in  their  charter,  that  there 
was  no  opposition,  when  the  time  came,  to  granting 
the  charter  of  Trinity  Church,  which  pronounced  it 
to  be  the  only  and  sole  parish  church  of  the  city 
and  gave  to  its  first  rector  the  hundred  pounds 
which  were  gathered  from  all  of  you,  so  that  you 
all  helped  to  support  us.  And,  moreover,  that  first^ 
rector  of  Trinity  was  called  by  the  first  City  Vestry 
(not  by  the  Church  Vestry  but  by  the  City  Vestry), 
which  was  elected  by  all  the  community  irrespec- 
tive of  creed,  and  he  was  called  first,  not  as  an 
Episcopalian,  but  as  an  Independent  minister.  He 
was  preaching  on  Long  Island  and  was  well-known 
for  his  eloquence.  That  did  not  suit  Governor 
Fletcher  at  all.  So  he  prorogued  the  Assembly 
which  had  ventured  to  call  a  dissenter,  and  by  the 
next  year  the  complexion  of  the  City  Vestry  had 
become  much  more  Episcopalian.     It  proceeded  to 


68       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 

call  as  rector  the  same  man  again,  but  now  on  con- 
dition that  he  should  go  to  London  and  get  orders 
from  the  Bishop  of  London.  Thus  Dr.  Vesey 
was  individually  persona  grata  to  the  Dutch  be- 
cause they  had  called  him.  He  was  also  now  ec- 
clesiastically persona  grata  to  the  English  Church 
because  he  had  consented  to  Episcopal  ordination. 
So  it  happened  that  at  last  everything  was  arranged 
without  struggle  and  without  remonstrance. 

Coming  thus  out  of  such  conditions  we  have 
managed  to  live  together  in  harmony  all  these 
years.  One  reason,  it  seems  to  me,  why  the  growth 
of  the  English  Church  was  so  great  then  —  beyond 
the  Lutheran,  beyond  the  Huguenots  and  be- 
yond the  Dutch  —  was  this:  that  all  those  commu- 
nions, very  naturally  perhaps,  but  not  with  the 
sagacity  of  enlarged  wisdom,  insisted  on  worship- 
ing in  their  own  foreign  tongues.  Consequently,  as 
the  children  grew  up,  they  grew  impatient  and 
wandered  and  would  go  to  the  church  where  the 
language  of  the  worship  was  the  language  of  the 
land.  And  so  it  happened,  for  instance,  that  Zion 
Church,  of  which  I  was  for  many  years  the  rector, 
began  as  an  English  Lutheran  Church,  the  first 
English  Lutheran  Church  in  this  city.  It  was 
looked  upon  askance  by  the  Lutherans,  and  it 
finally  went  over,  rector  and  congregation,  to  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  very  largely  for  the  reason 
that  the  members  wanted  to  worship  in  the  lan- 
guage of  their  country  without  a  stigma  being  put 
upon  them  on  that  account. 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany       69 

I  think  Dr.  Remensnyder  referred  to  the  fact 
that  the  fees  of  the  Lutheran  clergy  excited  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  French  and  the  Dutch.  It  is  a  fact 
that  the  marriage  fees  during  the  first  year  that  the 
Zion  English-speaking  Lutheran  Church  was  es- 
tablished, were  over  375  ;  more  than  one  a  day  for 
the  whole  year,  all  the  people  wishing  to  be  married 
in  the  English  language.  The  discontent  was  so 
great  that  the  other  Lutheran  pastors  in  the  city 
clamored  and  protested  that  they  should  have  a 
share  in  such  fees. 

In  the  providence  of  God,  the  English  Church 
of  the  Province  of  New  York  has  been  transformed 
into  the  American  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States,  and  has  enlarged  her  borders, 
and  yet  has  lived  in  the  friendliness  and  peace  with 
you  characteristic  of  the  olden  time.  There  is 
not  to-day  as  much  of  theological  identity  as  of  yore 
in  the  matter  of  confessions  and  the  doctrinal  sys- 
tems of  special  times  and  special  men.  But  is  there 
not  a  higher  and  nobler  unity  in  this,  that  we  are 
all  passing  through  the  confessions  to  the  creeds ; 
from  what  special  men  with  all  their  greatness  — 
Luther,  Calvin,  Cranmer  —  have  said  concerning 
Christ,  to  what  Christ,  the  Master,  has  said  and 
been  to  us ;  from  theories  concerning  revelation  to 
the  great  facts  of  revelation,  all  to  be  summed  up 
in  "Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday  and  to-day 
and  forever."  One  Master,  calling  for  one  service  in 
the  one  church,  "which  is  the  blessed  company  of 
all  faithful  people."     To  that  unity  I  believe  we  are 


70       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 

coming  more  and  more.  May  God  hasten  its  con- 
summation! As  a  noble  illustration  of  the  spirit  of 
true  Christian  unity,  I  recall  to-night  the  beautiful 
image  of  one  whom  I  have  often  seen  standing 
here,  whom  in  his  later  life  it  was  my  privilege 
to  know,  and  knowing  to  love,  in  the  country 
village  where  I  am  wont  to  reside  in  summer, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Vermilye,  so  long  the  preacher  and 
the  pastor  of  this  congregation,  whose  dignity 
of  countenance  and  nature  made  him,  wherever  he 
went,  a  "  living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men." 
He  was  a  veritable  evidence  for  the  Christianity 
which  produced  him.  By  his  very  mien,  temper 
and  disposition,  by  the  placidity  of  his  character, 
and  the  serenity  of  his  countenance,  he  reflected 
the  image  of  our  own  dear  Bishop  White.  His  per- 
sonal friendship  was  a  means  of  grace  ;  his  individual 
presence  I  always  felt  as  a  benediction.  As  I  re- 
member him  and  others  who  have  gone  out  from 
among  you,  and  who  have  grown  in  the  knowledge 
and  love  of  God  among  you,  what  can  I  do  but  ut- 
ter words  of  thankfulness  and  joy  for  what  God  has 
wrought  among  you,  and  pray:  "The  Lord  bless  you 
and  keep  you,  and  make  the  light  of  His  counte- 
nance to  shine  upon  you,  and  give  you  peace, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our   Lord." 


ADDRESS 


BY 


THE  REV.  DAVID  JAMES  BURRELL,  D.  D. 


should  be  noted  that  the  differ- 
ences which  have  been  referred  to 
all  occurred  practically  before  the 
beorjnninpf  of  the  civil  life  of  the 
CoUeofiate  Church.  The  sanction 
of  the  powers  that  be,  put  upon  our 
ecclesiastical  corporation,  seemed  to  terminate  what- 
ever of  unpleasantness  there  may  have  been  previ- 
ously between  us. 

How  good  and  how  pleasant  it  has  been  during 
these  two  centuries  for  us  to  dwell  together  in 
unity.  It  has  been  like  the  precious  ointment  that 
ran  down  upon  Aaron's  beard  even  to  the  skirts  of 
his  garment. 

Here  are  four  churches  representing  the  great 
historical  church  of  the  Reformation,  and  for  two 


72        Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrell 

hundred  years,  despite  the  aphorism  which  is  com- 
mon among  some  fault-finders,  that  Christian  de- 
nominationalism  is  equivalent  to  Christian  strife, 
we  have  dwelt  together  in  Christian  love  and  har- 
mony, each  working  over  against  its  own  place  in 
the  building  of  the  Temple  Wall. 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love. 

My  dear  Doctor  Remensnyder,  in  so  far  as  the 
Lutherans,  whom  you  represent,  were  to  blame  for 
the  unpleasantness  to  which  you  referred  a  moment 
ago,  in  behalf  of  the  Collegiate  Church  I  now  offi- 
cially desire  to  extend  our  cordial  forgiveness.  I 
assure  you,  sir,  that  we  can  never  forget  our  in- 
debtedness to  your  ecclesiastical  father  for  nailing 
the  famous  Ninety  Theses  to  the  castle-chapel 
door.  His  hammer  sent  the  thunders  of  the  Refor- 
mation reverberating  around  the  world  and  down 
through  the  ages.  We  never  can  forget  how  he 
and  those  associated  with  him  in  that  great  move- 
ment revived  the  almost  forgotten  doctrine  of  Jus- 
tification by  Faith  —  articuhun  ecclesics,  sta7itis 
aut  cadentis.  This  is  the  foundation  of  that  Holy 
Catholic  Church  of  which  Jesus  said:  "The  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

My  dear  Dr.  Baird,  representing  the  historical 
Huguenot  Church  in  this  fellowship  to-night,  I  re- 
member that  our  friendship  began  two  hundred 
years  ago,  when  as  yet  the  ink  was  scarcely  dry 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrell       jz 

upon  the  Revocation  of  that  Edict  of  Nantes.  All 
through  the  history  of  your  venerable  Huguenot 
Church,  we  hear  the  clanging  of  the  bells  of  Saint 
Germain,  that  on  a  direful  August  night  in  1572 
gave  the  signal  for  the  shedding  of  the  noblest 
blood  of  France.  But  you  were  not  exterminated 
Your  presence  here  is  proof  of  the  Master's  prom- 
ise, all  the  Powers  of  Darkness  shall  not  be  able  to 
prevail  against  the  Church  that  stands  by  the  liv- 
ing Truth.  What  was  it  that  Theodore  Beza  said  ? 
*'  Many  hammers,  sire,  have  been  broken  upon 
this  anvil." 

Hammer  away,  ye  rebel  bands; 

Your  hammers  break,  God's  anvil  stands. 

My  dear  Dr.  Tiffany,  representing  the  historical 
Episcopal  Church :  we  are  for  many  reasons  glad 
to  have  heard  so  fraternally  from  you  to-night,  and 
not  less  because  of  your  explanation  of  the  office 
of  the  archdeacon.  Some  of  us  might  other- 
wise have  confused  things  as  the  maid-servant 
did,  who,  being  instructed  to  say  to  visitors  that 
"The  rector  was  absent,  but  the  locum  ^enens  would 
attend  to  the  matter,"  said  that  "The  rector  was  ab- 
sent, but  the  local  demon  was  on  hand."  I  remem- 
ber, sir,  that  your  acquaintance  and  mine  began  at 
a  time  when  Dutch  William  was  the  official  head 
of  the  English  Church.  I  shall  always  associate 
most  gratefully  with  my  thoughts  of  the  English 
Church  the  memory  of  those  gracious  and  learned 


74       Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burrell 

men,  who  gave  the  world  the  Scriptures  in  the 
English  vernacular  and  set  up  the  proposition  of  a 
free  conscience  with  civil  and  ecclesiastical  liberty. 
It  was  in  vain  that  they  cast  the  ashes  of  Wickliffe 
upon  the  waters;  "the  Avon  to  the  Severn  flows, 
the  Severn  to  the  sea."  I  am  sure,  sir,  that  you 
were  right  in  saying  that  the  Christian  Church  is 
to  be  henceforward  bound  in  a  close  spiritual  fel- 
lowship. We  should  not  agree,  probably,  as  to  the 
practical  importance  of  any  closer  union  of  the 
friendly  denominations,  until  we  can  somehow  man- 
age to  blot  out  of  our  copy-books  the  words  that 
we  used  to  write  over  and  over  again  when  we 
were  boys,  "Many  men  of  many  minds."  But  if 
there  must  needs  be  denominational  lines  of  separ- 
ation, shall  we  not  keep  the  fences  so  low,  even  as 
they  are  here  to-night,  that  in  harvest-time  we  can 
reach  over  the  fences  and  clasp  warm  hands  saying, 
"  It  is  a  fair  morning,  neighbor,  God  be  with  you." 
We  have  our  work  marked  out  for  us  severally ; 
the  Lord  make  us  in  our  places  faithful  to  it. 

On  this  very  day  the  Chief  Executive  of  our 
commonwealth  has  signed  the  bill  that  makes 
New  York  City  the  second  greatest  city  in  the 
world.  It  was  one  of  the  wise  sayings  of  John 
Foster  that  "  Power  to  the  last  atom  is  responsi- 
bility." We  cannot  abide  as  churches  on  Man- 
hattan Island  without  bearing  on  our  hearts  and 
consciences  the  burden  of  the  great  multitude  of 
immortal    souls.     The    streets    are  thronged  with 


Address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Btirrell       75 

them  everywhere;  and  the  profoundest  need  of  the 
average  man  to-day  is  after  all  a  spiritual  need. 
Deep  down  in  the  heart  of  every  man  and  woman 
among  them,  throbs  the  desire  to  know  the  way  of 
everlasting  life.  And  Jesus  Christ  is  the  great 
lodestone  of  the  ages  ;  as  He  said,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 

To  you,  dear  brethren,  I  return  with  all  prayer- 
ful cordiality  your  earnest  salutations.  I  give  you 
joy  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Christian  life  and  in  the 
high  privilege  of  Christian  service.  Dr.  Guthrie 
used  to  say  of  the  Cowgate  in  Edinburgh,  "This  is 
my  golden  field."  Here  among  these  lapsed  mul- 
titudes who  throng  our  streets  is  our  golden  field. 
The  Lord  has  put  us  here,  brethren,  to  reap  the 
harvest  and  garner  the  sheaves.  Perhaps  the  word 
that  helped  Dr.  Guthrie  in  his  ministry  may  also 
help  us.      It  is  my  last  word  of  greeting  : 

Sin  worketh,  let  me  work  too ; 
Sin  undoeth,  let  me  do ; 
Busy  as  sin  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

Death  worketh,  let  me  work  too ; 
Death  undoeth,  let  me  do ; 
Busy  as  death  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

The  Lord  be  with  you  all  in  this  fellowship  of 
service.     The  blessing  of  the  Lord  be  with  you. 


THE   CHARTER 


WILLIAM  the  third,  By  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  England, 
Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the  faith,  &c. 
To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  sendeth  greeting 
Whereas :  Wee  have  been  informed  by  the  humble  peticon  of 
Our  loving  Subjects,  i  Henricus  Selyns,  William  Beeckman, 
Joannes  Kerbyle,  Joannes  De  Peyster,  Jocobus  Kipp,  Isaac  De 
foreest  and  Isaac  De  Reymer,  the  present  Minister,  Elders  and 
Deacons  of  the  Dutch  protestant  congregacon  in  our  City  of 
New  yorke,  presented  to  Our  trusty  and  wellbeloved  Benjamin 
Fletcher  Our  Captaine  Generall  and  Governour  in  Chiefe  of 
Our  Province  of  New  yorke  and  Territoryes  depending  thereon 
in  America,  That  the  said  Minister,  Elders,  Deacons  and  the 
other  members  in  Communion  of  the  said  Dutch  protestant  con- 
gregacon in  Our  said  City  of  New  yorke,  have  at  their  own  charge 
built  and  erected  a  Church  within  our  said  City  of  New  yorke, 
and  the  same  together  with  the  Coemetry  or  Church  Yard  there- 
unto adjoining,  have  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God,  situate, 
lying,  and  being  in  a  certaine  street  called  the  garden  street, 
being  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  said  garden  street,  and  on 

'  The  form  in  which  the  names  of  the  Elders  and  Deacons  appear  in  the 
text  is  doubtless  due  to  the  English  scribe  by  whom  the  Charter  was  drawn  up. 
In  the  Minutes  of  the  Consistory,  which  are  in  the  handwriting  of  Domine  Selyns, 
they  are  as  follows  :  Elders,  Nicolaes  Bayard,  Stephanus  van  Cortlant,  Willem 
Beeckman,  Johannes  Kerfbyl:  Deacons,  Isaacg  de  Foreest,  Johannes  de  Pey- 
ster, Jacobus  Kip,  Isaacg  de  Riemer. 

76 


The  Charter  77 

the  north  by  the  orchard,  late  in  the  possession  of  EHzabeth 
Drisius,  and  on  the  west  by  the  lott  of  John  Hendrick  De  Bruyn> 
and  on  the  east  by  the  lotts  of  John  Sipkins  and  David  Hen- 
drix;  containing  on  the  south  side,  one  hundred  and  eighty 
foot,  and  on  the  north  side,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  foot, 
and  on  the  west  side  eighty-four  foot,  and  on  the  east  side 
eighty-four  foot,  all  of  English  measure,  together  with  another 
lott  of  ground  adjoyning  to  the  north  side  of  the  said  Church 
lott,  abutting  on  the  north  side  upon  the  lott  of  Henricus 
Selyns,  on  the  west  upon  the  alley  newly  laid  out,  on  the  east 
the  lott  of  John  Weet,  and  on  the  south  the  said  Church  lott; 
containing,  on  the  north,  sixty-three  foot  two  inches,  on  the 
south,  sixty-five  foot  and  a  half,  on  the  east,  eighteen  foot  and 
a  half,  and  on  the  west,  twenty-two  foot,  English  measure,  and 
are  also  seized  in  their  demesne  as  of  ffee  as  in  right  of  the 
said  Church,  of  and  in  a  certain  messuage  or  toft  of  ground, 
situate,  lying,  and  being  within  Our  said  City  of  New  yorke,  in 
a  certain  streete  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  beaver  streete, 
being  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  lott  formerly  belonging  to 
Paulus  Vanderbeeck,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  the  widdow 
of  Nicholas  Dupue,  on  the  east  by  the  lott  heretofore  belonging 
to  Thomas  Wandall,  and  now  in  the  occupation  of  Jacob  Lennen, 
on  the  north  by  the  lott  late  appertaining  to  Ceonraedt  Ten- 
eyck,  and  now  in  the  tenure  of  Theunis  DeKey,  and  on  the  South 
by  the  said  be  vers  streete,  containing  in  front  towards  the  said 
streete,  fourty-four  foot  one  halfe  in  depth,  on  the  west  one 
hundred  and  thirty  foot  one  halfe  on  the  East  side  one  hundred 
thirty  foot  eight  inches,  and  on  the  reere  or  North  side  fourty- 
five  foot  tenn  inches,  english  measure,  As  also  of  and  in  a  cer- 
tain Mannour  commonly  called  and  knowne,  by  the  name  of  the 
Mannour  of  Fordham,  situate,  lying  and  being  within  Our  County 
of  Westchester,  to  the  Eastward  of  Harlem  River,  near  unto  the 
passage  formerly  called  Spiten  divell,  and  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Kingsbridge ;  beginning  at  the  high  woodland  that  lyes 
due  northwest,  over  against  the  first  point  of  the  Maine  land, 
to  the  east  of  Paparinam,  there  where  the  kill  Musketas  is,  and 


78  The  Charter 

so  goes  along  the  said  kill;  the  said  land  stretching  from  the 
high  woodland  afore-menconed,  east  south  east  until  it  comes 
unto  Bronx  kill ;  so  westward  up  along  the  Maine  land,  to  the 
place  where  Harlem  kill  and  Hudson's  river  meet,  and  then 
further  alongst  Harlem  kill  to  the  fresh  spring  or  fountaine  lying 
to  the  south  of  crab  Island,  so  eastward  along  Daniel  Tormer's 
land,  the  high  woodland  belonging  to  Thomas  Hunt,  and  then 
to  Bronx  kill,  aforemenconed.  As  also  of  and  in  a  certain  par- 
cell  of  meadow.  No.  i  situate,  lying  and  being  on  the  said  Har- 
lem river  neer  the  said  Mannour  of  Fordham,  beginning  in 
the  middle  of  a  point  to  the  north  of  Creger's  house,  beyond  or 
above  the  small  cove  that  lyes  above  the  said  house,  and  south- 
west in  Harlem  river,  and  extends  further  northward  to  the 
highway  where  the  wooden  bridge  lyes;  and  Whereas,  in  the 
said  humble  Peticon  they  have  likewise  prayed  our  grant  and 
confirmacon  of  all  and  every  of  the  premises,  and  that  we  would 
be  graciously  pleased  to  make  them  and  their  Successours  for- 
ever capable  to  hold  and  enjoy  the  same,  by  incorporating 
the  members  of  the  said  Dutch  protestant  Congregacon  in  our 
City  of  New  yorke,  aforesaid,  into  a  body  politick  and  corpor- 
ate in  deed  and  name,  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  minister, 
elders  and  deacons  of  the  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church 
of  Our  City  of  New  yorke.  Now  Know  Yee,  that  in  consider- 
acon  thereof  as  well  as  Wee  being  willing,  in  particular  favour  to 
the  pious  purposes  of  our  said  loving  subjects  and  to  secure 
them  and  their  Successours  in  the  ffree  exercise  and  Enjoyment 
of  all  their  civill  and  religious  rights^  appertaining  unto  them 
in  manner  aforesaid,  as  Our  loving  subjects,  and  to  preserve  to 
them  and  their  Successours  that  liberty  of  worshipping  God 
according  to  the  constitutions  and  direccons  of  the  reformed 
Churches  in  Holland,  approved  and  instituted  by  the  nationall 
Synod  of  Dort,  have  therefore  tliought  fitt  and  do  hereby  pub- 
lish, grant,  ordaine,  and  declare.  That  Our  royall  will  and  plea- 
sure is,  that  noe  person  in  communion  of  the  said  reformed  prot- 
estant Dutch  Church,  within  Our  said  City  of  New  yorke,  at  any 
time  hereafter  shall  be  any  wayes  molested,  punished,  disquieted, 


The  Charter  79 

or  called  in  question,  for  any  difference  in  opinion  in  matters  of 
the  protestant  religion,  who  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civill 
peace  of  Our  said  Province,  but  that  all  and  every  person  and  per- 
sons in  Communion  of  the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church 
may,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  hereafter,  freely  and 
fully  have  and  enjoy  his  and  their  own  judgments  and  consciences 
in  matters  of  the  protestant  religious  concernments  of  the  said 
reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church,  according  to  the  constitu- 
tions and  direccons  aforesaid,  they  behaving  themselves  peacea- 
bly and  quietly,  and  not  using  this  liberty  to  licentiousnesse 
and  profannesse,  nor  to  the  civill  injury  or  outward  disturbance 
of  others;  any  law,  statute,  usage  or  costume  of  Our  realme  of 
England,  or  of  this,  our  Province,  to  the  contrary  hereof  in  any 
wayes  notwithstanding.  And  that  they  may  be  in  the  better 
capacity  to  hold  and  enjoy  the  premisses.  Wee  have  further 
thought  fitt,  and  at  their  aforesaid  humble  request,  wee  are  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  Ordaine  and  declare  that  the  aforesaid  Church, 
built  and  erected  as  aforesaid,  and  scituate,  lyeing  and  being 
within  the  limites  aforemenconed,  and  the  ground  thereunto  ad- 
joyning  and  inclosed  and  intended  to  be  used  for  Cemetry  or 
Church  yard,  shall  be  the  Church  and  Church  yard  of  the  min- 
ister, elders,  and  deacons,  and  other  members  of  the  reformed 
protestant  Dutch  Church  of  Our  City  of  New  yorke,  and  the  same 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  forever  separated  and  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God,  and  to  be  applyed  therein  only  to  the  use  and  be- 
halfe  of  the  members  of  the  said  Dutch  Church  Inhabitants  from 
time  to  time  inhabiting  and  to  inhabite  within  Our  said  City  of 
New  yorke,  and  that  there  shall  be  a  Minister  to  have  care  of  the 
souls  of  the  members  of  the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch 
Church  Inhabitants  from  time  to  time  inhabiting  and  to  inhabit 
within  Our  said  City  of  New  yorke,  and  a  perpetuall  Succession 
of  Ministers  there.  And  wee  do  by  these  presents,  constitute  Our 
trusty  and  very  loving  subject,  Mr.  Henricus  Selyns,  the  present 
Minister  of  the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church,  in  Our 
City  of  New  yorke  aforesaid,  who  hath,  since  the  building  and 
dedication  of  the  said  Church  to  the  service  of  God,  very  well 


8o  The  Charter 

and  religiously  supplyed  the  same  in  all  divine  offices  for  the 
service  of  God  and  the  instruccon  of  the  members  of  the  said  re- 
formed protestant  Dutch  Church  inhabiting  within  Our  said  City 
of  New  yorke,  in  the  Christian  faith  according  to  the  constitu- 
tions and  direccons  aforesaid;  Wee  have  further  thought  fitt, 
and  at  the  humble  peticon  of  the  persons  aforesaid,  are  graci- 
ously pleased  to  create  and  make  them  a  body  politick  or  cor- 
porate, with  the  powers  and  priviledges  hereafter  mentioned, 
and  accordingly  Our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  of  Our  Special 
grace  certaine  knowledge  and  meere  mocon  Wee  have  ordained, 
constituted  and  declared,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  Our 
heirs  and  Successours,  do  ordaine,  constitute  and  declare,  that 
they,  the  said  Mr.  Hendricus  Selyns,  Nicholas  Bayard,  Stephen 
Cortlandt,  WilHam  Beeckman,  Johannes  Kerbyle,  Johannes  De 
Peyster,  Jacobus  Kipp,  Isaac  De  foreest  and  Isaac  De  reymer, 
the  present  Minister,  Elders,  and  Deacons,  and  all  such  others  as 
now  are,  or  hereafter  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Communion  of 
the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church,  in  Our  City  of  New 
yorke,  shall  be,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  forever  here- 
after, a  body  corporate  and  politick,  in  fact  and  name,  by  name 
of  the  Minister,  Elders,  and  Deacons  of  the  reformed  protestant 
Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New  yorke,  and  that  by  the  same 
name  they  and  their  Successours  shall  and  may  have  perpetuall 
Succession  and  shall  and  may  be  persons  able  and  capable  in  the 
Law  to  sue  and  be  sued,  to  plead  and  be  impleaded,  to  answer  and 
be  answered  unto,  to  defend  and  to  be  defended  in  all  and  singu- 
lar suites,  causes,  Quarrells,  matters,  accons  and  things  of  what 
kinde  or  natme  soever;  And  alsoe  to  have,  take,  possess,  acquire, 
and  purchase  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  or  any  goods 
or  chattells,  and  the  same  to  lease,  grant,  demise,  aliene,  bar- 
gaine,  sell  and  disposfe  of  at  their  own  will  and  pleasure  as 
other  our  Hedge  people  or  any  corporacon  or  body  poHtick 
within  Our  Realme  of  England,  or  this.  Our  Province,  may 
lawfully  do  over  and  above  the  rents,  lands,  Tenements,  mes- 
suges,  Mannours  and  hereditaments  hereby  settled  on  the  said 
Corporacon  and  their  Successours,  not  exceeding  the  yearly 


The  Charter  8i 

value  of  two  hundred  pounds,  currant  money  of  Our  said  Prov- 
ince; And  further,  that  they,  the  said  Minister,  Elders,  and  Dea- 
cons, and  their  Successours,  shall  and  may  forever  hereafter, 
have  a  common  seale  to  serve  and  use  for  all  matters,  causes, 
things  and  affairs  whatsoever,  of  them  and  their  Successours, 
and  the  same  seale  to  alter  change,  break,  and  make  new,  from 
time  to  time,  at  their  will  and  pleasure,  as  they  shall  think  fitt; 
And  further,  Wee  will  and  ordaine,  And  by  these  Presents,  for  us. 
Our  Heirs  and  Successours,  doe  declare  and  appoint  that  for  the 
better  ordering  and  manageing  the  affairs  and  businesse  of  the 
said  corporacon  and  Successours,  there  shall  be  four  Elders  and 
four  Deacons,  from  time  to  time  constituted,  elected  and  chosen 
out  of  the  members  of  the  said  Dutch  Church  inhabiting  in  our 
said  City  of  New  yorke,  for  the  time  being  in  such  manner  and 
forme  as  is  hereafter  in  these  presents  expressed,  which  persons, 
together  with  the  Minister  for  the  time  being,  shall  apply  them- 
selves to  take  care  for  the  best  dysposing  and  ordering  the  gen- 
erall  businesse  and  affairs  of  and  concerning  the  lands  and  here- 
ditaments herein  menconed  to  be  granted  and  of  all  others  that 
shall  be  acquired  as  aforesaid.  And  for  the  better  Execution 
of  Our  Royall  pleasure  herein,  Wee  do  for  us,  Our  heirs  and 
Successours,  assigne,  name,  constitute  and  appoint  the  aforesaid 
Mr.  Henricus  Selyns,  to  be  the  first  and  present  Minister  of  the 
said  Church,  and  the  aforesaid  Nicholas  Bayard,  Stephen  Cort- 
landt,  William  Beeckman  and  Johannes  Kerbyle,  to  be  the  first 
and  Present  Elders  of  the  said  Church,  and  Johannes  De  peyster. 
Jacobus  Kipp,  Isaac  De  Foreest  and  Isaac  De  Reymer,  to  be  the 
first  and  present  Deacons  of  the  said  Church,  which  Elders  and 
Deacons  are  to  continue  in  the  said  severall  offices  respectively, 
untill  the  second  Sunday  of  November,  now  next  ensuing;  And 
further,  Wee  will,  and  by  these  presents  for  us,  our  Heirs  and 
Successours,  do  ordaine  and  grant  to  the  Minister  of  the  said 
Church  for  the  time  being,  or  in  his  absence  by  sickness  or  other- 
wise the  first  Elder  for  the  time  being  shall  and  may  from  time 
to  time,  upon  all  occasions,  give  order  for  the  assembling  or 
calling  together  the  said  Elders  and  Deacons  to  consult  and  ad- 


82  The  Charter 

vise  of  the  businesse  and  affairs  of  the  said  Church ;  And  further, 
Our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  Wee  doe  hereby  for  Us,  Our  Heirs 
and  Successours,  establish,  that  yearly,  once  in  the  year,  forever 
hereafter,  on  the  third  thursday  of  October,  at  the  said  Church, 
the  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  said  Church,  by  and  with  the  con- 
sent and  approbacon  of  the  members  of  the  said  Church  for  the 
time  being,  shall  nominate  and  appoint  such  of  their  Members 
of  the  said  Church  that  shall  succeed  in  the  office  of  Elders  and 
Deacons  for  the  year  ensuing.  And  if  it  shall  happen  that  any  of 
the  said  Elders  and  Deacons  so  elected,  nominated,  and  ap- 
pointed as  aforesaid,  shall  dye  or  be  removed,  before  the  said 
yearly  day  of  Eleccon,  that  then,  and  in  every  such  case  it  shall 
and  may  be  lawfull  for  the  Members  of  the  said  Church  to  pro- 
ceed, in  manner  aforesaid,  to  a  new  Eleccon  of  one  or  more  of 
their  members  in  the  room  or  place  of  such  officer  dying  or 
removed,  according  to  their  discrecon;  And  further,  our  will 
and  pleasure  is,  and  wee  do  for  us.  Our  Heirs  and  Successours, 
declare  and  grant,  that  the  patronage,  advowson,  donation  or 
presentation  of  and  to  the  said  Church  after  the  decease  of  the 
said  first  minister  or  next  avoidance  thereof  shall  appertaine  and 
belong  to  and  be  hereby  vested  in  the  Elders  and  Deacons  of 
the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church  and  their  Succes- 
sours forever.  Provided  always  that  all  the  succeeding  Minis- 
ters that  shall  be  by  them  presented,  collated,  instituted,  and  in- 
ducted into  the  said  Church,  shall  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance 
unto  us.  Our  heirs  and  Successours,  any  thing  contained  herein 
to  the  contrary  hereof  in  any  wayes  notwithstanding.  And  that 
the  first  Minister  and  all  the  succeeding  ministers  thereof  shall 
and  may  have,  take  and  enjoy  such  and  the  like  stipends,  con- 
tribucons,  offerings.  Free  and  voluntary  gifts  and  other  Ecclesi- 
asticall  dutyes,  ariseing  or  used  and  accustomed  to  rise,  from 
the  members  of  the  said  Church ;  And  Our  further  will  and  pleas- 
ure is,  and  we  do  hereby  declare  that  it  shall  and  may  be  lawfull 
for  the  said  Minister,  Elders,  and  Deacons  of  the  said  reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  Our  City  of  New  yorke,  aforesaid, 
and  their  Successours,  to  grant  and  demise  such  of  the  premises 


The  Charter  83 

or  any  part  or  parcell  thereof  (as  are  now  in  lease),  at  the  expira- 
con  or  other  sooner  determination  of  such  lease,  for  the  term 
of  fifteene  years,  upon  a  reasonable  improved  yearly  rent,  with- 
out taking  any  fine  for  the  same.  And  Our  further  will  and 
pleasure  is,  And  Wee  do  hereby  further  declare  that  it  shall  and 
may  be  lawfull  for  the  Deacons  of  the  said  Church,  or  any  other 
person  sufficiently  authorized  from  them,  at  any  time  or  times, 
when  they  meet  and  assemble  together  in  the  said  Church,  for  the 
public  worship  or  service  of  God,  to  collect  and  gather  together 
the  ffiree  and  voluntary  alms  of  the  members  of  the  said  Church, 
congregated  as  aforesaid,  which  is  to  be  imployed  by  the  Min- 
ister, Elders,  and  Deacons,  &c,,  unto  such  pious  and  charitable 
uses  as  they  and  their  Successours,  at  their  discrecon,  shall  think 
convenient  and  needfuU ;  And  Our  will  and  pleasure  further  is, 
and  we  doe  hereby  declare  that  the  Minister  of  the  said  Church 
for  the  time  being  shall  and  may  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  said  Church,  for  the  time  being,  or 
any  four  of  them,  whereof  one  of  the  Elders  to  be  one,  from  time 
to  time  as  need  shall  require,  nominate  one  or  more  other  able 
Ministers  lawfully  ordained  according  to  the  constitutions  and 
direccons  aforesaid,  to  be  preachers  and  Assistants  to  the  said 
Minister  and  his  Successours  in  the  celebracon  of  the  divine 
offices  of  praying  and  preaching,  and  other  dutyes  incident  to 
be  performed  in  the  said  Church  as  the  Minister,  Elders  and 
Deacons  of  said  Church  shall  require  of  him ;  And  likewise  to 
nominate  and  appoint  a  Clarke,  Schoolmaster,  bellringer  or  sex- 
ton, and  such  other  under  officers  as  they  shall  stand  in  need  of. 
And  Further,  Wee  do  of  Our  Especiall  grace,  certaine  knowledge 
and  meer  mocon  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Minister,  Elders 
and  Deacons,  by  and  with  the  consent  and  advice  of  the  mem- 
bers in  Communion  of  the  said  Church  or  the  major  part  of  them, 
full  power  and  authority  to  make  rates  and  assessments  upon  all 
and  every  of  the  members  in  Communion  of  the  said  Church, 
which  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons,  together  with  the  mem- 
bers in  communion  of  the  said  Church  or  the  major  part  of  them, 
are  hereby  authorized,  from  time  to  time,  to  make  rates  and  as- 


84  The  Charter 

sessments  upon  all  and  every  of  the  members  in  communion  of 
the  said  church  for  the  raising  of  money  for  the  payment  of  the 
yearly  stipends  and  sallaryes  of  the  aforesaid  Officers  of  the  said 
Church,  and  also  for  repairing,  amending  and  enlarging  the  said 
Church  and  steeple,  belfry,  Coemetry  or  Church  yard,  and  other 
things  necessary  belonging  to  the  said  Church,  which  rates  and 
assessments  shall  be  paid  unto  the  Deacons  of  the  said  Church  for 
the  time  being,  and  disposed  of  to  the  uses  aforesaid,  by  order  of 
the  said  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons ;  And  for  the  better  and 
more  easy  taxing  and  making  of  the  rates  and  assessments  afore- 
said, Wee  further  grant  and  declare  that  the  Minister  shall  on 
every  first  Sunday  in  the  month  of  May  in  the  year,  give  notice 
to  the  members  of  the  said  Church  by  name  to  appear,  assemble 
and  meet  with  him  and  the  Elders  and  Deacons  of  said  Church, 
on  the  second  Monday  then  next  following  in  the  said  Church, 
to  make  the  said  assessment.  And  if  upon  notice  so  given,  they 
neglect  or  do  not  meet,  then  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  the  said 
Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  do  make  the  said  assessment,  any 
thing  contained  herein  to  the  contrary  hereof  in  any  wayes  not 
withstanding.  And  Wee  doe  of  Our  further  speciall  grace,  certain 
knowledge,  and  meer  mocon,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Min- 
ister, Elders,  and  Deacons,  and  their  Successours,  That  the  said 
Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons,  together  with  the  members  in 
Communion  of  the  said  Church,  Inhabitants  from  time  to  time 
inhabiting  and  to  inhabite  in  our  said  City  of  New  yorke,  shall 
be  called  the  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church  of  Our  said 
City  of  New  yorke.  And  that  they  or  the  greatest  part  of  them, 
whereof  the  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  and  the  major  part 
of  the  members  in  Comrnunion  of  the  said  Church,  shall  have 
and  have  hereby  given  and  granted  unto  them,  full  power  and 
authority  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  hereafter  to  appoint, 
alter  and  change  such  dayes  and  times  of  meeting  as  they  shall 
think  fitt.  And  to  choose,  nominate,  and  appoint  such  and  so 
many  of  Our  Hedge  people  as  they  shall  think  fitt  and  shall  be 
wilHng  to  accept  the  same  to  be  members  of  their  said  Church 
and  Corporation  and  body  politick,  and  them  into  the  same  to 


The  Charter  85 

admitt  and  to  elect  and  constitute  such  other  Officer  and  Officers 
as  they  shall  think  fitt  and  requisite  for  the  ordering,  manageing 
and  dispatching  of  the  affairs  of  the  said  Church  and  Corpora- 
con  and  their  Successours ;  And  from  time  to  time  to  make,  or- 
daine,  constitute,  or  repeale  such  rules,  orders  and  ordinances 
for  the  good  discipline  and  weal  of  the  members  of  the  said 
Church  and  Corporacon ;  so  that  these  rules,  orders,  ordi- 
nances, be  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Our  Realnie  of  Eng- 
land, and  of  this  Our  Province,  nor  dissonant  to  the  principles 
of  Our  protestant  religion,  but  as  neere  as  may  be  agreeable  to 
our  Laws  of  Our  Kingdom  of  England,  and  consonant  to  the  ar- 
ticles of  faith  and  worship  of  God  agreed  upon  by  the  aforesaid 
Synod  of  Dort;  and  further.  Know  Yee,  that  Wee  of  our  more 
abundant  grace,  certaine  knowledge,  and  meere  mocon,  have 
given,  granted,  ratifyed,  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents 
for  us,  our  heirs  and  Successours  do  give,  grant,  ratify  and  con- 
firme  unto  the  said  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons,  and  their 
Successours,  all  and  every  of  the  severall  above  recited  lands, 
tenements,  messuages,  Mannours,  and  hereditaments,  within  all 
and  every  of  their  severall  and  respective  limites  and  bounds 
above  specifyed,  together  with  all  and  every  of  their  severall  and 
respective  houses,  buildings,  edifices,  tenements,  closes,  yards, 
tofts  of  ground,  orchards,  gardens,  inclosures,  fields,  pastures, 
feedings,  woods,  underwoods,  trees,  timber,  Common  of  pasture, 
meadows,  marshes,  swamps,  lakes,  ponds,  pools,  waters,  water 
courses,  rivers,  rivoletts,  brooks,  streams,  fishing,  fouling,  hunting 
and  hawking,  quaryes,  mines,  mineralls,  (silver  and  gold  mines 
excepted)  and  all  other  royaltyes,  jurisdiccons,  franchises,  pre- 
heminencyes,  libertyes,  priviledges,  benefits,  profites,  heredita- 
ments, and  appurtenances  whatsoever,  to  all  and  every  of  the 
severall  and  respective  above  recited  lands,  tenements,  messuages, 
Mannours,  hereditaments  and  premises  belonging,  or  in  any  wayes 
appertaining  or  there  withall  used,  accepted,  reputed,  or  taken  to 
belong  or  in  any  ways  to  appertaine  to  all  intents,  construccons 
and  purposes  whatsoever ;  As  also  all  and  singular  the  rents,  ar- 
rearages of  rents  and  issues  of  the  premises  heretofore  ariseing, 


86  The  Charter 

due  or  payable.  To  have  and  to  hold  all  and  every  of  the  sev- 
erall  above  recited  lands,  tenements,  messuages,  Mannours  and 
hereditaments  within  all  and  every  of  their  severall  and  respec- 
tive limites  and  bounds  above  specifyed,  together  with  all  and 
every  of  their  severall  and  respective  houses,  buildings.  Edifices, 
tenements,  closes,  yards,  tofts  of  ground,  orchards,  gardens,  in- 
closures,  fields,  pastures,  feedings,  woods,  underwoods,  trees, 
timber,  common  of  pasture,  meadows,  marshes,  swamps,  lakes, 
ponds,  pools,  waters,  water-courses,  rivers,  rivoletts,  brooks, 
streams,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting  and  hawking,  quarryes,  mines, 
mineralls,  (silver  and  gold  mines  excepted)  and  all  other  Roy- 
altyes,  Jurisdiccons,  franchises,  preheminencyes,  libertyes,  priv- 
iledges,  benefits,  profites,  hereditaments  and  appurtenances 
whatsoever  to  all  and  every  of  the  severall  and  respective  above 
recited  lands,  tenements,  messuages,  Mannours,  hereditaments 
and  premisses  belonging  or  in  any  ways  appertaining  unto  them, 
the  said  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed  protes- 
tant  Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New  yorke,  and  their  Succes- 
sours,  in  Trust  to  the  sole  and  only  use,  benefite  and  behoofe  of 
them  the  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  and  other  members  in 
Communion  of  the  said  reformed  protestant  Dutch  Church  in 
the  City  of  New  yorke,  and  their  Successours,  for  ever.  To  be 
holden  of  us,  our  Heirs  and  Successours  in  ffree  and  common 
soccage,  as  of  Our  Mannour  of  East  Greenwich,  in  our  County 
of  Kent,  within  our  Realme  of  England ;  yielding^  rendering  and 
paying  therefore  yearly  and  every  year,  forever,  unto  Us,  our 
Heirs  and  Successours,  on  the  feast  day  of  the  annunciation  of 
Our  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  at  Our  City  of  New  yorke,  the  an- 
nuall  rent  of  twelve  shilhngs.  Currant  money  of  our  said  Prov- 
ince, in  Lieu  and  steade  of  all  other  rents,  dues,  dutyes.  Services, 
claims  and  Demands,  whatsoever,  for  the  premisses.  And 
LASTLY  WE  do  for  US,  our  Heirs  and  Successours  ordaine  and 
grant  unto  the  said  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  said  re- 
formed protestant  Dutch  Church,  within  the  City  of  New  yorke, 
and  their  Successours,  by  these  presents.  That  this  our  grant  shall 
be  firme,  good,  effectuall  and  available  in  all  things  in  the  law,  to 


The  Charter  87 

all  intents,  construccons  and  purposes  whatsoever,  according  to 
our  true  intent  and  meaning,  herein  before  declared^  and  shall 
be  construed,  reputed  and  adjudged  in  all  cases  most  favourable 
on  the  behalfe  and  for  the  best  benefite  and  behoofe  of  the  said 
Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  reformed  protestant  Dutch 
Church  in  the  City  of  New  yorke,  and  their  successours;  al- 
though express  mencon  of  the  true  yearly  value  or  certainty  of 
the  premises  or  of  any  of  them  in  these  presents  is  not  named, 
or  any  statute,  act,  ordinance,  provision,  proclamation,  or  restric- 
con  heretofore  had,  made,  Enacted,  ordained  or  provided,  or 
any  other  matter,  clause  or  thing  whatsoever,  to  the  contrary 
hereof  notwithstanding. 

IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF  we  have  caused  the  great 
seal  of  our  said  Province  to  be  hereunto  affixed.  Witness  our 
trusty  and  well  beloved  Benjamin  Fletcher,  our  Captaine  Gene- 
rail  and  Govemour  in  Chiefe  of  our  Province  of  New  yorke  and 
the  Territoryes  and  Tracts  of  land  depending  thereon  in  America, 
and  Vice  Admirall  of  the  same,  our  Lieu*  and  Commander  in 
Chiefe  of  the  militia,  and  of  all  the  forces  by  sea  and  land  within 
our  Colony  of  Connecticutt,  and  of  all  the  fiforts  and  places  of 
strength  within  the  same,  in  Councill  at  our  ffort  in  New  yorke, 
the  eleventh  day  of  May,  in  the  eighth  year  of  our  reigne, 
Annoq  Domini,  1696, 

BEN   FLETCHER 

By  his  Excell!  Command 

David  Jamison 

D  Secry 


BX9517.N5N52 

Bicentenary  of  the  charter  of  the 

Princeton  Theological  Semlnary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00042  6231 


